We arrived in Nikolaev...once again.

Our flights started at 3:10pm from Bismarck...then to Chicago leaving at 8:50pm. We arrived in Munich at 12:15pm Sunday...aaaaaaand...we made the flight to Kiev as did our luggage!! We prayed before every flight mainly for safety but then also for God's will that he would allow us to use our time the best way possible but we were asking that if it was possible to let us have more time with the orphans vs. sitting in a hotel in another city doing nothing. Our luggage was some of the last to come through and we were trying not to get disappointed. We were also VERY thankful at this time that we even made it to Kiev. We experienced THE WORST turbulence I even had on that flight. We had just been given a meal and I was half done when the HORRIBLE turbulence started that I almost needed that handy dandy puke bag. Oh it was close....and it was so scary. I kept praying over and over to please not allow both Austin and I to go this way. Joey needs one of us. So 3 flights down...4 to go.

Our driver picked us up from airport and took us to train station to buy tickets and then we ate supper at McDonald's which was right beside train station. We had first class again but this time the train was older...and louder...and bumpier...and shakier. Austin slept good...me not so much...not because I was scared but rather all the noise and bumps. Overall it was good though...the air conditioning was great. We even complained a couple times...quietly to ourselves...that it was too cold. Then I remembered how I would be wishing for this air later in the week.

We got to Nikolaev at 6am. Sasha and her husband were there to meet us and take us to our apartment. I had the key from last time so we walked right in like I never left. That was so nice. At 8:15am they picked us up again to start our very long and busy day of paperwork. Sasha already started the process on Friday so she saved a lot of time. She is one very effiecient gal and does her job well. We got Isaiah's birth certificate...went to notary...closed his bank account and donated that money to the orphanage, which all adoptive families are really encouraged to do to help pay for repairs and supplies in the orphanage. There was also paperwork to finish at the orphanage and we also got his passport. This doesn't seem like much but it was...and it was hot...and there was a lot of waiting. But it was worth it...we are done and Sasha is able to go with the rest of her family on their 6 day vacation tomorrow. We also took a big suitcase full of donated clothes, shoes and toys to the orphanage. The clothes had to go to someone who keeps record of all donations. I asked if we could be allowed to give the kids the toys ourselves and they let us. It was such a treat to see how excited they all were.


These two papers are the adoption certificate and birth certificate.




Before one of our stops this morning we had to stop at the orphanage to talk to social worker so while Sasha did that she told us we have 10 minutes to see Isaiah. Austin had been asking ALL morning to go see him. His groupa was playing outside. The nanny saw us coming and she went to Isaiah and picked him up for us. Austin took him and just giggled and giggled. He was so happy and all smiles...Austin that is. Isaiah acted like he always knew him. When we left and drove by their play area the same nanny had picked Isaiah up again and was holding him. I think times like this are bittersweet for them. They cared for these kids all their lives and then one day they are gone. Fortunately for Isaiah he is going to live with a family...not all orphans with disabilities are so lucky. I'm sure it is more sweet than bitter for them though in this case vs. the child being sent to an institution.




Later in the day we went back for the evening visit and we stayed inside with the rest. Most of the kids have a heat rash and no one had this last time. Isaiah's one hand is all sore from him chewing and his chin is rashy too. It looked like they all had haircuts except Isaiah and I was SO happy. I was worried he would be a buzz while I was gone. Nannies kept coming to Isaiah and were talking Russian/Ukrainian. I wish I knew what they were saying. Then one would come get him and sing and dance around. I was crying inside for their happiness and sadness. It was so touching to witness the love they have for the kids.








I was even more touched by what Sasha told me and gave me. Isaiah's birth mom stopped by the orphanage to see Isaiah and me...to say goodbye...but I had already had left to go home. She said that was maybe best then. She had gifts for both Isaiah and Joey! I was shocked. It was 2 bears and 3 outfits, 2 socks and a pair of shoes. It broke my heart as a mother knowing how much she loved/loves this boy I feel she was forced to give up. Even Austin commented on how "she must really care". It does not seem real that I am now the mom to a child born to someone else...now especially to someone else who clearly loves her child. I still do believe he was meant to live with us and be part of our family though. I think it is all such a beautiful thing happening...for what we are getting...for what Isaiah is getting...and for what his birth mom is getting...which I hope is peace and comfort and healing and closure. I pray her and her husband are able to build a strong family as they have a new baby now. They split up sometime after Isaiah was given up.

Tuesday's plan is to go take the bus to the shopping place Darrell and I hung out at. (Don't worry Darrell I won't break the bank...but it could get tempting as I have an empty suitcase I "could" fill up.) We plan on eating lunch at a place Darrell and I planned on but we never made it work. We will then meet some other translator, a friend of Sasha's as she is leaving for vacation, at the orphanage for GOTCHA DAY! We will bring Isaiah to the apartment...pack up...eat supper...and then be picked up by taxi at 6:15pm to head to train station. We will get to Kiev around 6am and either go to hotel or apartment. Don't have that part figured out yet. We need 2 days to finish in Kiev. Isaiah will get a medical exam and then apply for visa.

I'm so pleased and so thankful for how trip #2 has been going. Thanks for all your prayers!!!

All was going smoothly until....

Wednesday night when I took a MUCH closer look at our travel itinerary. We booked these tickets while still in Ukraine last time as we were just so thrilled to get ANY tickets at all. It wasn't an easy task for my travel agent. The problem is Austin and I are due to arrive in Munich, Germany at 12:25pm Sunday and are due to depart from Munich to Kiev at 1:00pm...the same day. This 35 minute time frame includes going through customs. Our assigned seats are in row 55. I know...it keeps getting worse. For those of you who've traveled on a looooong flight know how people are very anxious to get off the plane. Someone suggested asking if we could get off first. I have my doubts. Even if we did...being in a strange airport...going through a new customs...and getting ourselves AND our luggage on the next airplane is NOT looking like an easy task.

So...I checked online to see if there are any other flights leaving Munich and going to Kiev later that day. There is one...7:25pm...which would get us to Kiev around 10:40pm. That would mean we would miss the night train going to Nikolaev...which I REALLY wanted. Getting on that night train would mean we could save about $100 hotel expense...we would most likely get our adoption paperwork done in Nikolaev that Monday and be back on the train Monday night. The way it looks now we will be wasting a day in Kiev doing nothing...but waiting. I could take Austin for a walk to show him things we saw and places we went. That would mean he would get an eye or two full of half dressed girls :(

Oh, there is another option. We could get into a car...without seatbelts...with a driver, who most likely was up all day, and be driven down to Nikolaev and be there by Monday morning. For some reason this option just does NOT sound very appealing no matter which way I look at it. I can NOT get those visions out of my head of us and the approaching car (or bus...or truck...or motorcycle) being only 100 feet apart...in the same lane...with a semi truck next to us and behind us. And then 2 minutes later...this happened again, and again, and again. It REALLY was THAT bad. I would rather be in labor for a week without an epidural...and I've never had an epidural to know how great they are.

I don't mean to scare any future adoptive families. It was maybe just me being the BIG chicken that I am. Darrell didn't have the same experience I did. He was in the front seat with a seatbelt but IF I had the option of a seatbelt I don't think it would have changed things much. The train ride was much cheaper and SO MUCH more relaxing.

Please pray all works out and that we can still be on schedule to fly back home on the 21st.

THANKS!

We are home.

We flew into Bismarck around 4:30pm Wednesday afternoon. Catie, Noah and Joey were there to greet us. Joey didn't see us right away but when he did he just stared with a blank look. I imagined him thinking..."is this a dream?...do I really see my mom and dad?" I then grabbed him and hugged him and kissed him and kept saying..."mommy's home, mommy's home". He then went to Darrell and came right back to me. It was so nice getting so many hugs and kisses from both of them the whole night. I got "shy-ish" smiles from the older kids. I "think" we were missed which was nice to see :)

Me and the little ones went to bed at 10pm. Noah wanted to stay up and talk but I could NOT keep my eyes open any longer. Two hours of sleep in 48 hours doesn't go very far. I woke up at midnight to Darrell coming in the room (he milked and went to the day field when we got home...and fell asleep while driving the tractor...I won't even go there) and sat up in bed and was soooooooooo confused. I was trying to figure out what apartment I was in because nothing looked familiar. Darrell said we were HOME!

We had the BEST kid-sitters possible...my mom and Catie. Everyone and everything was very well taken care of. I felt like I was walking into a brand new mantion compared to where we had been staying. It was spotless and thanks to 2 great friends our fridge was filled with amazing food. What a treat! I had been looking for broccoli everywhere we went in Ukraine and NEVER saw it anywhere. One dish in the fridge was broccoli stir fry. YUMMY!

The boys did a great job "managing" the farm. We could have not did this without them and their willingness to do their part.

We're so thankful God was watching over all of us and brought us all back safely together. Now if He can just do that while Austin and I are gone for a week to finish up the adoption we would be even more thankful. I know those who offered prayers for safety were also a part of it too!

We have a Six-Pack!!!!!!

Of boys that is! The judge ruled in our favor to become the parents of Pyshchalo Il'ya born 4-17-2008. He is now named Isaiah Ilya Becker.

Court was delayed 1 hour due to late jurors. We (facilatator, translator, social worker, Darrell and I) were sitting out in a VERY warm hallway. The judge told us we can sit in his air conditioned room...what a treat that was!

Finally at 10:55am we were told to go into court room. There were 8 people in there until the judge and jurors walked in totaling 11 people in yet another VERY warm room. Currently at 12:30pm it is around 112 degrees.

Lots of Russian talk was being jabbered as we sat there wondering what was going on. Our translator was good about trying to catch us up after someone was done talking. Darrell and I both were asked questions but nothing too hard...just very nerve wracking standing before the judge even if he didn't understand a word we were saying. The orphanage doctor was asked a number of questions including if she thinks we understand this child comes with special needs and if she thinks we can handle it. Translator told us she said without a doubt we know and can handle it as we have been raising another child with Ds for the past five years. She also said she has seen us interact with this child at the orphanage and she can see we love him already...sniff, sniff.

Before long the judge and jurors left the room. The orphanage doctor and social worker came and shook our hands and congratulated us. They were confident we were going to be new parents. They were right...judge/jurors came back 5 minutes later and jabbered some more Russian and our translator said he agreed to grant us our request and we are the parents of Isaiah Ilya Becker!!! Whoohoo!!!!

The hard part is over. We will have one more visit, although short, with Isaiah today before we are picked up at 6:15pm to head to the train station.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! It will be nice coming back to cooler weather. Hopefully it cools down here too before our return trip in 2 weeks.

Our Translator Vika

Our Facilitator Sasha

Saturday & Sunday.

Yesterday when we came for our afternoon visit Isaiah had his "gloves" on. First time since we've been visiting him. Most of the pictures I got of him from past adoptive families he had these same gloves on. Isaiah is a thumb sucker and finger chewer and boy oh boy does he have a suction. In between his thumb and pointer finger it is so raw. He has 6 more teeth to get so HOPEFULLY the chewing will vanish when he is done teething.

Isaiah had his first dance lesson from dad. I also have it on video but dad won't allow me to upload it :( (he was singing a Russian tune)


We visited the Nikolaev Zoo. We saw our first hippo and were as up close and personal as you could get to some scary but beautiful big cats. Also saw some buffalo...was neat to see the map of where they come from...the plains of the midwest.







We didn't have a long afternoon visit with Isaiah as we met with our facilitator and the translator we will have with us in court. They were going over with us what to expect in court...what to say and what not to say. Darrell plans on being the main speaker. There are only 4 English speaking people in the court room of about 10-12 people...facilitator, translator, Darrell and myself. So if Darrell has a brain freeze and forgets what he was going to say he just has to say something and the translator will do her thing...no one will know what happened. Court could be anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes...depending on how busy the judge is that day. The hardest part might be how to pronounce Isaiah's real name. Their phonetics is not the same as ours. Isaiah's last name starts with a P but sounds like a B. If you happen to be having a restless nights sleep tonight around 2am say a prayer that all is going well. Our SD friends didn't have a good experience in court on Friday and they have to come back Monday also. Please say a prayer for them also.

Today, Sunday, we ventured out on the bus to church again. There was a baptism today. Looked like there were 2 Godmothers and 2 Godfathers and we had 2 sermons again this week. Would be nice to know what we were being told. It was 36 degress C which is 104 degress F...with NO breeze at all. It gets hard to breath at times.

We walked around and went into many small shops. Shoes, shoes, and more shoes EVERYWHERE. Found another huge kids store and bought some bubbles for Isaiah. Bismarck Airport confiscated the bubbles I had packed in my backpack. He didn't get as excited as we thought he would but he did try to grab them. He probably never saw them before.

Ukraine Map & Flag.

Here is a map of Ukraine. We started out in Kiev...traveled down to Nikolaev...and will finish back up in Kiev. Same thing will happen on 2nd trip. The remaining trips back up to Kiev will be by the night train. I can not get myself to get back on "suicide highway". There are some things some people can only do once and that is one thing for me.

Notice where Odessa is on the map...very close to Nikolaev. We believe both of our families ancestors shipped out of Odessa back in the late 1800's to early 1900's. Some family never did come to America. It is kind of neat walking the grounds that some blood line way back in the day may have also walked. For all we know Isaiah could share the same blood line somewhere along the line. He does really look alot like one of my little boy cousins. :) Our facilitator said that we need to mention that to our judge that our ancestors come from this area. They started in Germany and when things got bad there they traveled to Russia...which is why they are referred to as German-Russians in our area back in North Dakota. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union along with Russia and a few other countries. The final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR. We have questions to ask family when we get back home because we are beginning to think that the term "German-Russian" is not correct because Odessa is in Ukraine and that is where most shipped out of. Now, maybe they traveled to ship out of Odessa but actually lived in Russia. Lots of interesting facts to find out.

Germans in our area refer to vegetable soup as Borchst. Borchst is BIG here in Ukraine and it is YUMMY! They use a lot of beets in theirs. All this time I thought Borchst was a "German" word but turns out it is Russian/Ukrainian. We know 3 Russian/Ukrainian words pretty well...Dah (yes), Nyet (no) and Borschst (vegetable soup).



Here is a picture of the Ukrainian flag. I find it really ironic that the colors are the exact colors that are used to bring awareness to Down syndrome...blue and yellow.

Good News x 3.

#1-Our Interpol Clearance is in which means court is still on for Monday at 10am.

#2-We will be able to get the one day passport for Isaiah on our 2nd trip which means instead of spending 3-4 days in Nikolaev we will only need to be here ONE day!

#3-We were suppose to go to Notary tomorrow but just found out she is going on vacation for a week so we will do it today.

Now we can reschedule tickets and book 2 more for our return trip. Darrell won't be coming back with me but luckily our 13 year old Austin is passport ready so he will come with me. It will sure be nice having an extra set of arms to help with Isaiah. He may be little for a 2 year old but his low muscle tone makes him hard to carry.

Today when we got to the orphanage they were already outside in their same play area. They were having their morning snack outside. It is a cooler day...the humidity is sooooooo much better. All 3 nannies today were very nice and asked us questions as best they could in English. They asked about our family so we showed them our photo album. Everyone is always shocked to hear we have 5 boys back home. I was surprised that one of the nannies has 5 kids herself...all older though. We were told most families have only 1 child...some have 2 and very few have 3. Today was also the first time that we saw so many toys in their play area and before they went back inside some of the kids got to sit in a little swimming pool. The nanny put Isaiah's feet in. We aren't sure what happened today but they never handed Isaiah to us. We stayed with them the whole time they were playing and then when they were done the little ones went into a stroller including Isaiah. After his feet were cleaned in the pool they took him inside. Darrell and I just looked at each other. We did go in to give them their daily diapers. We were asked to bring a few diapers everyday which seems strange as he is not even ours yet but oh well. Before we leave on Monday I will give them the rest of the big bag we bought here so we don't have to stuff them in our already OVERSTUFFED luggage.

While the nanny was pushing the kids in the stroller she was singing and Isaiah would bounce up and down. We could tell he definately understood what she was singing. He seems to get treated very well by everyone. We wish he could come home with us now but knowing how he is cared for will make it easier to leave.