Pictures of Isaiah.

DAY ONE...

First time holding Isaiah...this was after lots of hugs and kisses and tears.

Ten minutes after we were there the nanny had me sit down and feed Isaiah a baked apple. We then went outside.



We have a thumb sucker! And a finger chewer. The habit will be hard to break.

DAY TWO...

Birth parents are signing off!

We just received a call from Sasha, our facilatator. She is meeting the family at the notary public to sign off and agree to allow their son to be adopted by an international family...OUR family! Praise God. After they sign off Sasha will pick us up and we begin some more paperwork.

We did not go to see Isaiah this morning as we had laundry to do. With this heat you can only re-wear clothes so many times. It was a cool morning in the shade so we had coffee outside while reading The Word Among Us. This week has been really speaking to us but today it reaffirmed so clearly what we are doing. I always had peace with it all but Darrell was lagging behind a bit. He took a huge step in faith out in the water and now he is really seeing and feeling how Jesus is and will hold him up.

For my own memories I'm typing what we read this morning.

"The Spirit of God is upon me; He has anointed me. He sent me to bring good news to the poor, and to heal the broken-hearted." (Luke 4:18) We believe God somehow allowed this "mistake" in the paperwork that is delaying our process for the birth family to have some kind of closure. God sent us to bring good news that having a child with Ds is nothing bad or impossible and that their birth child will be loved and have a good family. We believe this is what the family needed to heal broken hearts. I really deep down as a mother feel they were struggling with leaving their baby in the hospital. We saw the tears and they were real. We pray God is working on healing their broken hearts and grant them peace and comfort knowing where their child is going.

"Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his neighbor; if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place, or follow strange gods to your own harm, will I remain with you in this place, in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever." Jeremiah 7:5-7 /strong>

The meditation in the Word Among Us for this reading...

Picture a commanding figure standing in the Vatican and loudly proclaiming: "Don't put your trust in the deceitful words, 'I'm a Catholic, I'm a Catholic, I'm a Catholic!'" If you can imagine how unsettling that would be, you can begin to appreciate how the Jews reacted to Jeremiah's sermon before the Temple in Jerusalem.

Chosen by God as his earthly dwelling, the Temple symbolized his protection over the whole nation. And the people Jeremiah addressed were not the lukewarm or the non-practicing. He was speaking to worshipers who were happily going about their public religious duties. How outraged they were to hear him foretell doom as he mocked their trusting cry, "the temple of the Lord!"

But Jeremiah was speaking God's word, not his own. God truly was displeased to see his people loving liturgy without loving their neighbors. By neglecting and oppressing the poor and defenseless--the very ones God wanted them to care for--they had broken their covenant (Jeremiah 7:5-6; Exodus 22:1-4). They rejected justice, yet showed up to offer sacrifice, confident that God would bless them. But Jeremiah warned: You're making this holy place "a den of theives," and God sees your hypocrisy (Jeremiah 7:11).

God hasn't changed. He still hates self-centered religion that passes for worship. He still expects us to share his desire that everyone, especially the poorest and weakest, will have a decent life. Jesus made this clear from hsi opening mission statement about bringing glad tidings to the poor to his final parabel about he sheep and the goats: Extend mercy to those in need.

Take a few minutes today to consider the issues Jeremiah rasies. See if there's some way you can help improve the lives of the disadvantaged. Is there a program in your parish or community that you can support? If you are already involved, see if there is someone else you can invite or join you. We may not change the entire world, but we can bring the light of Jesus into lives that are hurting, lonely, and forgotten.

"Jesus, I know it's not enough to say holy words and visit holy places. I need to become holy! Fill my heart with your love for the poor. May my prayer--my whole life--be more and more pleasing to you."

So after our prayers this morning I told Darrell we better go check if the wash machine was finished so we can get that done before we have to go. Darrell said, "Do you think God works that fast?" I said that isn't what I meant and that I just want to be ready before Sasha calls. We got back inside the apartment and within 3 minutes Sasha called. I told Darrell that I guess God does work THAT fast. He said...unbelievable! God is so good and so loving. We pray that our process can proceed now without further delay and that those involved in decision making to have mercy on us (even if they don't know they are giving mercy but that somehow God moves them to speed it up). We also pray for patience and acceptance in however long this takes as it is all out of our hands and control.

I know many are looking forward to seeing pictures and I'm excited to share them BUT it will have to wait until later today. Lastnight my camera battery was dead so I wasn't able to upload them.

It is currently 3:20am central time. While our morning is almost over you are soundly sleeping.

Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers and replies. We are so thankful for those in our lives and the support you are giving us. If only Isaiah knew not only how blessed he will be to be getting a forever family but also all those awesome people who are involved in his future family's lives.

Have a great Saturday!

July 22 & 23 Update

We picked up our referrals from SDA in Kiev shortly before 5pm on Wednesday then dropped off the Schultz family from Maryland at their hotel then we were on the road about 5:15pm to Nikoleav. It was suppose to be a 5-6 hour drive but ended up being 7 hours. It was a very tramatizing ride for me and if I never make it again I will be so happy. Well, I should be fair and say the first half wasn't so bad...it was a divided highway but not having seat belts made me so nervous. Some say the train ride is horrible others say it's not so bad. I will go with the "not so bad" and take the train back to Kiev when the time comes. I can NOT go through with that drive again. It would be a night train leaving at 8pm and arriving at 6am.

We got to our apartment in Nikolaev around 12:30am. Giligan, our landlady, greeted us and showed us around and what do to. She is so funny and so nice. She speaks Russian, German, and English.

Our first night was a VERY emotional night. It started with the tramatizing ride and then just the unknowns of what the next day would bring. We were only hours from meeting the boy that has been "growing" in "my" heart since Nov. 2008. I was worried about how Darrell would do. He has voiced his concerns about his worry of the "what if's" for a while now...what if he can't love Isaiah...what if he has many health problems that they didn't tell us...what if he is more than we can handle, etc. We got up early after maybe 2 hours of sleep. Sasha, our facilatator in Nikolaev picked us up at 8:30am to head to the City Hall to meet with the social worker for some paperwork. We were told the social worker would ask us questions but she didn't. We then all when to the orphanage, including the social worker to meet with the orphanage director. We were given Isaiah's medical history. He was the first child born to his birth parents. They left him at the hospital in the maternity ward and signed off as parents because they learned he had Down syndrome. A few weeks later he was brought to the orphanage. We got his birth measurments. We also learned that he had heart surgery on July 23rd, 2009. He was admitted into the hospital in Kiev on July 22nd and discharged on July 29th. We learned this information on July 22nd 2010...exactly 1 lear later. He had 2 small holes (not sure of the spellings) but it was minor and he only has a small scar on his back near his heart. He was in the hospital a couple other times for colds, coughs, etc. There is an organization in Switzerland that donates money to kids who need surgeries. Isaiah was a lucky recepient to have had this surgery...not all kids are so lucky. Right now there are 2 little girls in this orphanage who are in the hosptial having surgery thanks to this organization.

After this visit with the orphanage director we were asked if we wanted to meet the child. We said yes. It all happened so fast and we did not get it on video. I saw him as soon as I walked in the door. I didn't know if I could walk right in as nannies had all eyes on us and I felt out of place. So I started slowly walking and no one told me to stop. Isaiah was in his little padded play area with no toys. I picked him up and squeezed and kissed and hugged and kissed and squeezed him. It felt like a dream that FINALLY came true. He was perfect and so stinken cute. I was so hot so I handed him over to Darrell. I was worried that he wouldn't want to hold him but he took him and held him and he said that he felt that everything was going to be alright and many of his "what if" worries vanished. We were able to spend about an hour with him. It was snack time and they took Isaiah and put him in his highchair table and montioned for me to sit down and feed him. I was shocked that I was given this opportunity so soon. Isaiah will be eating mushy food for a while from what I could tell. Alisha told me in the past that Isaiah can drink from a regular cup and I was so impressed as our Joey still struggles. Well after the baked apple snack that I fed him then the nanny handed me a cup of apple juice. I slowly starting putting it to his mouth so he could drink some and the nanny took my hand and showed me how to do it...basically pour it in his mouth and he has no choice but to swallow or let it run out. I felt so sad for him. We then took him outside AFTER the nanny handed us a hat to put on him. All kids wear hats outside. It is so cute seeing them. Since it is so HOT here they all only have on little undies and hats...that's it. Isaiah never once acted scared. He acted like we've been his mom/dad since forever. He cuddled with us, touched our faces, seemed to want to give kisses as he would move his face into our face, stared at our faces, smiled, giggled and NEVER cried a once. It was amazing and so welcomed. He is so lovable and so sweet and so perfect.

Before we went outside with Isaiah we were asked if we wanted this child and we both said yes. They then went to start the paperwork when we went outside. A short while later Sasha came out and said there is a problem. They discovered that on the paper that the birth parents signed that they said only to be adopted in Ukraine. Sasha said it always says both in country and internationally. We could not move forward until this was settled. The birth parents needed to be notified and asked if this child could be adopted by an American family. The birth mother has never visited Isaiah. One of the grandmothers did a few times and then stopped as she felt there was nothing she could do to help him. The orphanage director only had the phone number to this grandmother so she was called. The grandmother then called the mother/father to let them know. We were told the would come the next morning to make the decision. They live about 2 hours from Nikolaev and have just recently given birth to another baby. I was so worried and started crying and Sasha said she is so sure everything will be fine. Darrell said we would have to believe it was God's will IF Isaiah didn't come home with us.

FRIDAY, JULY 23rd, UPDATE...

We met with our landlady at 8am so she could show us how to use the bus system to get to bigger supermarkets and to help us shop. You wouldn't think it would be so hard to shop for food buy try it when everything is in a different language. Every now and then we would see an English word. That was our first experince using the city bus. Quite interesting.

We were a little late getting to the orphanage. The family was suppose to be there at 11am. So I told Darrell that we were going to sit in the front entrance area where there is a couch so we could see them walk in. They wouldn't know us or Isaiah. Well, 11am came and went and so did 11:15. We then went outside to catch a breeze (did I mention it is so HOT here??) and at 11:25 2 older gals and a younger gal came walking up the steps. The younger gal and one of the older gals were crying. I knew it was them. Darrell was sitting on the top step holding Isaiah and I was standing. The young gal kind of looked over Darrell's shoulder to try to see Isaiah. I'm assuming they went up to the orphange directors room. We took Isaiah back to his groupa at 11:30 and sat on the couch. We weren't told to but we wanted to find out what the fate of this little boy whom we wanted to take home to give him a chance at a much better life would be. Sasha had the day off but she had a friend step in for her. She talked with us while we were waiting. The birth mom and her mother came to the entrace area and looked at us and then Sasha's friend and them said a few words and the mom/grandma went back upstairs. Sasha's friend said she told the birth mom that she doesn't need to be sad...that this is a good and very beautiful thing happening. The birth mom told her she didn't know what she was talking about. A while later we were told they wanted to meet us and talk to us. So we walked into the room where both grandma's and the birth mom were sitting and crying. The orphanage director was showing them a photo album of other kids with Ds who were adopted by American families and telling them how well they are doing. In 2 years if Isaiah wasn't adopted he would be transferred into a mental institution where he would likely spend the rest of his days in a crib. The first question they asked us was if we really did have another child with Ds and we said yes. I handed the birth mom our photo album and they all 3 were looking and crying. They got to Joey's picture and stared at it and commented on how he doesn't look like he has Ds. They asked why we wanted to adopt him. After more chit chat between them and director were we then asked if they could have updates with photos. We agreed. We knew their tears were genuine and our hearts were breaking for them. It was very hard not to cry. This seemed like a big bump in the road b/c it is delaying our adoption process b/c we can't move forward until they sign the paper but I told Darrell maybe God allowed this to happen because this family needed some sort of closure. We do know the birth parents split up for a while and it very well could have been b/c of them having this baby with Ds and then giving him up for adoption. This probably has affected them deeply and secretly and their hearts have maybe been breaking everyday since they left him. We will never know but I want to believe good came or will come out of this delay that is not easy for us. The birth mom and mother of the father said they would talk to the father and tell him that they trust us. So now we wait until tomorrow to hear. I'm not even going to begin to think what would happen IF this goes the direction that would break our hearts. We are just trusting and praying that God has Isaiah's best interest in mind. The fate of this little innocent boy could end up on 2 different ends of the spectrum. We may not be the perfect family but we believe we can give him a much better life.

We've asked a few people what Ukrainian's think of Americans coming to adopt because we sense that we are not at all liked. We were told that it isn't that they don't like American's but rather the adoptions because of the stories they hear from what happens to kids in America that are adopted...for instance, the mom who send her adopted child from Russia on an airplane by himself with a note back to Russia. Well, we American's aren't too happy with that mom either. There was supposedly another adopted child who died from being forgotten in a hot car.

Please pray for God's will and IF the will is not in our favor please pray we are able to accept this. It would be a VERY VERY hard thing to understand after many many months of loving this boy and working to bring him home to us.

Phew...the parts of my fingers that are left from the tramatizing ride on Suicide Highway are now tired from typing this novel. Someday the driver will find 10 finger stubs stuck in his seat.

Good Night from Nikolaev.
ps...sorry from any typos. I didn't proofread.

Heading to Nikolaev this evening.

Our driver will be at our hotel to pick us up at 3:30pm. We have to check out at noon so we will hang around the hotel lobby until then. We were going to walk around and site see a bit but neither of us are up for the heat wave. We hope to check out Nikoleav much more as that is where Isaiah comes from.

We ate brunch in the hotel this morning and it was a neat experience. The gal who sat next to me on the plain was telling me how she couldn't wait to eat cottage cheese from back home. She said it was much different than American cottage cheese. So I've been curious and looking for it where ever we go. I found it in the breakfast buffet. It was just ok. The food choices in the buffet were MUCH different than American buffets.

I got Darrell to go out on a walk/jog early this morning before it got super hot. When he leaves I will be too chicken to do things like that on my own.

The trip to Nikolaev is about 250 miles. Any prayers for safety will be appreciated.

SDA appointment and other happenings.

MONDAY...Yesterday we met up with the Adamson family from South Dakota. Last year when they adopted from Ukraine they met someone who has become a friend so he drove us to a great restaruant and had some amazing Borchst soup and an awesome Greek Salad. Portion sizes are much different than America. Much smaller. Maybe that would explain why the vast majority of people here are very, very thin. We always think that Josh is so super skinny but he would fit right in here in Kiev. We see many men wear capris and many carry man purses. The women are simply georgeous. I've never seem so many good looking people in one area before, however, some of these women could choose to wear more clothes or thicker clothes as many don't seem to mind if what they wear is see through. Oh and their shoes...the higher the heal the better. Many side walks are cobblestone-like but that doesn't stop these women from wearing spiked heals.

Back to our yesterday...Adamson's friend solved our cell phone trouble and had us buy a new one here for $30 which allows us to call to US for around .20 per minute. What a blessing. Today they picked up their 2 referrals and planned on taking the night train to their kiddos orphanage city which will be about a 12-14 hours. Please pray for their safety and that they get a court day fast too as they have 6 bio kiddos and 1 adopted one back at home. One is an 8 month old nursing baby. We have so much in common, Traci Adamson and I. It was so nice getting to know them.

TUESDAY...After another horribly HOT night with very little sleep we had our SDA appointment at 9:00am. Our driver, Niko, picked us up at 8:30am. We met Serge who I think is a lawyer. We waited outside the SDA door until it opened at 9. We were the first appointment and another couple from Maryland doing a blind referral were after us. Serge told us to wait in the stairway/hallway or outside until we are called. We were called right at 9...walked up the stairs...led into a back room...told to sit on the couch...and wait. The case manager and Serge talked and talked and were looking through our translated papers. Knowing Ukrainian language would sure have been helpful. There seemed to be trouble. We asked what was wrong and he said there seems to be a document missing. The case worker called someone on the phone and talked some more Ukrainian between the person on the phone and Serge. It all turned out ok...THANK YOU GOD! We were shown 2 older pictures of Isaiah who didn't really look like him but the birthday was the same and his first name, Ilya. We were expecting to be asked a couple questions like most adoptive families like...why do we want to adopt a child with Ds and asking us about our family....but NOTHING. Not one single question. I took 2 recent pictures of Isaiah out of my bag and put them on the table. They took one and gave us one of his older ones. Tomorrow we are suppposed to be getting the second one...it was glued on the paper and they were going to try to get it off without ruining it. I pray it works b/c it was a baby picture of him. Before we knew it, maybe 5 minutes after we sat down, Serge told us we were done and to tell "her" thank you. We walked out the door and down the stairs and back outside. We wished the family luck and headed back to Niko's car. Yulia did not make it. She is our facilitator here in Kiev. Niko told us to walk around and get some coffee. People are a little different here. He seems "pushy" and so Darrell got a coffee...a cup maybe the size of a doubled dixie cup...VERY strong and HOT...just what we needed in this HEAT wave. Most of it found its way in the garage. We bought soccer shirts for Austin and Noah and a Ukrainian flag for Isaiah at the sidewalk shops by the SDA. Darrell did the "bargaining". He had some practice from his mission trip to Guatemala last year. After about 20 minutes I told Darrell we better go talk to Niko as I wasn't sure if a clock was ticking and that we were maybe paying for this time. We wanted to leave right away but he told us to walk around. He then told us we are waiting for another couple. Turned out to be the Maryland couple. Niko took us all and dropped us off at our apartments. We exchanged numbers and met up with them for supper. We found out that they are one of the 65 families waiting to bring their children home from orphanages in Kyrgyzstan. I recently unsubscribed to the Kyrgyzstan adoption support group. After things didn't work out for Isaiah in Nov. 2008 we took steps to Aaron in this country. We knew their doors were closed but told they would probably open in early 2009. It never happened and I made myself take Aaron's pic off my desktop. He had always been in my prayers hoping a family in country adopted him. Well, this family told us that they were told the country might open the doors to the 65 waiting families by the end of the year. I was SOOOOO happy to hear this and I couldn't believe I met one of them. Too strange.

We so much wanted to walk around the city and site see but the weather makes it unbearable. I thought I was having a heat stroke this morning. I think I was also dehyrated. We finally gave in to trying to tough it out at the "hot box" and paid a little extra money to move into the hotel right next door. Oh how we wish we did that the first day.

After we got settled in our hotel we crashed for a couple hours and then met up with the Maryland couple for supper. We went to a Ukrainian buffet...very good. I had Borchst again. I thought borchst was a German word and maybe it is but that is what they call vegetable soup. So YUMMY. I'm usually good at picking apart a new soup and recreating it at home so I hope I can accomplish that.

After our long supper/chat we walked around a bit and headed back to our hotels. We got lost but we all felt safe as it was still light out and we were all together. It was a good workout...up and down hills.

Plan for tomorrow is to check out of hotel at noon...probably wait in the lobby until 3:30pm when we will get picked up by Niko and taked back to SDA building to pick up the referral papers which gives us permission to go to Isaiah's orhanage and visit him. We were debating on taking the night train which costs $100 for a 12 hour, NON-air conditioned ride OR $200 for Niko to drive us 5 to 6 hours in a car with NO seatbelts. YES!....NO seatbelts. People drive CRAZY here. We almost got wiped out the 1st day crossing the steet. A FAST car came out of no where and he/she would have taken us out. They did NOT slow down at all. So I'm asking Jesus and my guardian angel and any other guardian angels that are bored to sit ride beside me on this long drive. We will be staying at an apartment that Alisha and Michelle arranged for us. THANKS girls!!!!

Some things I miss from back home...wash cloths, kleenex, Reverse Osmosis water, air conditioning, seat belts, and my kiddos, especially Joey. Skype is getting harder and harder. Joey does not want to "talk" anymore and it is breaking my heart. I had to step to the side and bawl tonight. I don't cry easy but I can't control myself when I think of how confused and broken hearted Joey must be. I know this is all for the good and will be so worth it. It has only been 4 days without Joey and it's harder than I thought being so early in the trip. I so badly want his kisses and hugs. Catie said he seems to be doing fine.

Oh and today we also chatted with the Wisconsin family for about an hour when we got to our hotel. They've been staying here too. Having contact to all these USA families makes us forget we are thousands of miles away.

I will try to post a few pics tomorrow.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers and messages. Makes us feel not so far away.

If all goes well we should be meeting the newest Becker boy on Thursday! Does not seem real.

Hello from Kiev, Ukraine!

Our Saturday morning started out at 4:00am after only a couple hours of sleep (Darrell got one hour). Joey, Noah, AND Austin slept with us and we stayed up LATE talking. I "think" Joey was really starting to sense something was up after days and days of me telling him I am going on an airplane to get Isaiah. They wanted us to wake them to say goodbye. Noah had shed his tears earlier that night...Darrell and I let loose saying goodbye that morning. It was so hard. We actually sat in the car on the driveway for about 5 minutes as we cried and prayed...thanking God for all the blessings He has given us up to that point and for safety for us all so we all come back together at the end of this journey...all safe and sound.

We met up with a South Dakota couple in Minneapolis. They are adopting 2 kids from Ukraine after adopting one last year. They have 6 bio kids. Great family. Unfortunately we won't see much of them as they are adopting from a different region.

We were to take off from New York at 4:15pm and we did but didn't get very far...just to the runway. They started up the engines and one was not working properly. We sat on the VERY warm plane for 2 hours. It was a GREAT flight with hardly any turbulence...my kind of flight. I've never been on a flight where they have updates on a screen of how far you've traveled and also with a GSP system. Pretty neat.

My first experience with customs went really well except for no air conditioning while wearing tennys and jeans and carrying heavy bags. We were told by someone today that yesterday was Kiev's hottest day...110 degrees. Today was 104. Totally miserable. Our driver was waiting for us. He took us to exchange money, to a grocery store to get a few things including drinking/cooking water and then to our apartment. We are on the 50th floor...well, ok...it's only the 5th but as hot as it is and NO air conditioning it very well could be the 50th. I don't think the hot water heater is working but right now I could care less. I told Darrell he is getting a taste of "labor"...but it will all be worth it just like labors always are.

On the long flight I sat next to a sweet young gal who lives really close to Isaiah's city. She grew up in Odessa and was coming to visit her mom and update her passport. She's been living in the USA for 6 years. She told me alot about the area and even gave me her phone number in case we need anything. We are debating on trying to find a way to drive around the country side...maybe over her way...as Darrell is really itching to see some farm land.

As we were walking down to a main area in Kiev we noticed 4 people walking on the opposite side of the sidewalk so Darrell said we should catch up to them as they look like American's. They sure were...from Wisconsin. They were visiting their son who is in the Peace Corps. The son was offering us advice as to where good places to eat are and stores to go to etc. We ate at TGIF's for supper. Was nice to see English in their menu. When we were leaving Darrell, once again, said he wants to talk to this guy we noticed while we were eating. He said he noticed us too and figured we were American's. When we asked him how he knew he said because he saw us smiling/laughing. He wasn't American but spoke it very well. He teaches English around this area. He gave us his cell phone number and offered us help in anyway we needed.

We talked to the kids on Skype. Wow! It was hard seeing Joey but SOOOOOOOOOOOO good. He kept signing mom and dad. 2 days are done for us already. Hope the rest goes this fast.

We found an underground mall and we plan on hanging out there part of the day tomorrow with this crazy heat. I HATE weather like this. I would have NEVER planned a vacation to go somewhere this hot but we are following the road God has us on. Our SDA appointment is Tuesday at 9:00am and there is a chance we could be on a night train to Nikolaev that night.

I had asked my dad a couple times if he wanted to go with me to Ukraine (jokingly) and he never even had to think about it...his answer was NO. Well, there was a man on the long flight that looked 98% like my dad. He was up maybe 10 rows but he was standing alot during the flight. I kept telling Darrell he should tell my dad to sit down. THEN our driver looked alot like him too. Too weird. So, Dad, in a way you were kind of with me on the trip.

Until next time.

Spah-koy-nay noh-chee from Ukraine.

The time has come.

We are flying out of Bismarck at 8:00am Saturday morning. We are to arrive in Kiev, Ukraine at 9:10am Sunday morning...1:10am USA central time. I'm so exhausted right now from the long busy week of getting ready...mentally and physically...that I'm hoping I will be able to sleep most of the 9 hour flight out of New York.

Thanks to all who called or emailed your well wishes and offered prayers for a safe journey. You are all so appreciated. This is a scary but exciting time...doing something I never thought I could possibly do. But I have no doubt that God led us and put us on this journey and that He will send His protection over all of us.

God willing...there will soon be one less orphan in the world.

Someone asked me the other day if I'm "in labor". I guess this is as close to real labor as possible...if not worse...a possible 5 day labor.

Soon to be a family of 8.