****4 month update****

October 14th will be Cole's 4th month as our son. In that short time he has changed so much and already been through so much, I don't know where to begin. I'll try to go in some sort of chronological order. Cole had to have some major dental work as soon as we got home. The final tally was 4 fillings, 3 crowns and 1 extraction.....luckily they put him completly out so it wasn't to bad. He has been to the pediatrician about 5 plus time to get up to date on shots and various other things.

We have had a pretty big roller coaster ride as far as his behavior goes. We really were prepared for most anything, but were really blind sided by him lying and being disrespectful. It doesn't sound like much, but it has put both of us to the test more so than we ever imagined. On more than one occasion one of us has seen the other physically shaking out of frustration and anger. He seems to be bad for a couple weeks and then good for a week or so. Then it turns into a new battle. We have truely learned the importance of being consistant with our punishment, and it is paying off. Cole is really seeming to settle in and we feel confident that the worst is behind us.

Cole started first grade in September and has really been doing well. He meets with a language (ESL) teacher a few times a week, but outside of that he is just in a regular class with the other kids. He seems to finally be making some friends at school in the past week or so. His teacher says that all of the kids know that there is something different about Cole, but they just don't seem to know what. She has explained to the class that he speaks Russian and never new English before....but the 1st graders just don't really grasp that concept. His teacher has been so helpful in emails to us and keeping an extra eye on him at school. He comes home each day with new words in his vocabulary. He litterally learns 2-3 new words everyday and continues to use them afterwords. It is amazing how quick he has learned. He is probably speaking at about a 3 1/2 - 4 year old level right now, though he comprehends as a 7 year old.

Cole, Kailyn and Hadley all get together very well. He is very good with Hadley, and Kailyn and him have a good brother and sister relationship. Somedays they play together so well it brings a tear to your eye, and the next they play so bad you want to scream. All in all they get along very good and really enjoy each other.

It really feels now like Cole is a part of the family. That isn't to say that he didn't use too, but it is a different emotional experience to take in a 7 year old vs. a baby. I'm sure we would have felt the same if we had adopted Kailyn when she was 5. We really seem to have built up love and probably more important TRUST. I think that the trust issue was probably the hardest thing for all of us to build. Cole is a very good boy and will have a great life with us, we are very thankful to have him in our family.

JP

Well, the last week has been a crazy travelling whirlwind that is starting to catch up with me!  We put poor Cole in the car on Monday and drove 4 hrs. down to Oregon to get the girls.  (As if 10 hrs. on a plane wasn't enough for him the day before!)  By the time we arrived we were really tired but very excited to reunite with the girls again.  It took Hadley about 5-10 minutes to recognize me again!  I sat down on the floor and while I was talking to Jon's Mom she finally came up and crawled on my lap like she had finally realized who I was.  Kailyn was really glad to see us again as well and to finally meet her new brother.  My Mom, brother Jake and sister Kylie all came over to Jon's parents' house to meet Cole along with Jon's Aunt Jane.  Cole was excited to meet everyone and was generous with the hugs even though I don't think he fully understood who everyone was!  As the night went on, and exhaustion set in, things got a bit rough.  I think this was an emotional day for Kailyn and it was hard for her to share the limelight with her new brother.  Needless to say, the first night back was a tough one but things have been slowly getting better.  Tuesday we celebrated Hadley's first birthday with the family!  It wasn't easy trying to put this all together at the last minute either, but it all went off without a hitch...I mean how hard can it be to satisfy a one year old?  Stick her in the highchair with her own cake and she's a happy kiddo!!!  It was a good time and we had fun watching Hadley licking her own little cake.  I think Cole really enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone too.  (Thank-you so much Ruthie for having the party for us at your house - it was wonderful!)  Wednesday morning we all drove back home with our cars filled with cribs and other supplies.  My Mom drove up with us too and agreed to stay a couple of days to help us out.  (Thanks so much Mom-You're the best!)  Now we have been home (at our house) for four days and we are trying to get back to normal and establish a routine.  The first week we spent with Cole in Ukraine he had a lot of attention and I think he is realizing he will now have to share that attention with Kailyn and Hadley.  He has slowly started coming out of his shell and has started complaining and pouting...like any other normal 6 year old.  At first he would scarf down anything we fed him practically choking the whole time.  Now he has started complaining that he doesn't like some of the food we have been feeding him.  We just ask that he tries it, if he doesn't like it then fine, we won't make it for him again.  At dinner last night we slaved to make fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn...etc. and he looked at it and didn't even want to try it.  Once we made him try it though, he ate it all.  We've also established that he does not like Pizza...it's like a bad word in our house!  So this has been a little bit of a battle...(I can't imagine my cooking is worse eating at the orphanage!)  Anyway, he has also had some minor little fights with Kailyn as well.  I suppose it's just a kid being a kid!  We are just establishing the rules (for him and Kailyn both!)  Overall though, they are playing together nicely.  I even found Kailyn giving him a make-over the other night!  (This was a moment I wish I'd had on video!)  She even managed to get a little eyeshadow on him!  Haha!  He also got the Tennis racket and balls he'd been asking about.  I think he really has the patience, drive and athletic ability to be really good at a sport!  He likes both Tennis and Soccer.  We'll have to see where his desire and talent lies.  I'm glad he's so athletic.  I think both Kailyn and Hadley are the more musical, dancing, artistic types.  Cole has already learned to count to about 10 and is starting to say things in English...Please, Thank-you, that type of stuff.  I am really impressed with how smart he is and how quickly he learns.  He really has the desire to learn and enjoys the praise when he does something well.  He has also been getting up every morning and making his bed and keeping his room clean.  I am proud of him!  I can't imagine what he is thinking in his own little mind having been through so much in his short 6 yrs. of life.  He is a good boy and I think he will be a very happy part of our family.  This is just a big adjustment for all of us.  I have been feeling very exhausted and have had little time to rest.  Today was my breaking point and my body just couldn't get out of bed.  I slept in until 8:00 am.  Then I returned to bed from about 11:00 until 1:00pm.  My legs feel like I have run a marathon...I'm just getting run down I guess.  I plan on just taking it easy over the next few days and hanging out around at home.  Next Friday is Cole's birthday.  We've marked it on the calendar and he's counting down the days!  We are just planning on a quiet little birthday party at home.  Jon bought a big pool from Costco, so if the weather cooperates maybe we'll be able to set that up and take a dip!   Anyway...thanks for all the support from everyone!  Especially our parents for taking care of the girls!!!  (We know it's a tough job!)  We wouldn't have been able to do all of this with out all the help from our friends and family.  We love you guys! 

Summer

Well, we have been home for one night and now we are heading out again!  We will be heading back down to Oregon to get the girls and throw a quick birthday bash for Hadley's 1st  B-day!  We are pretty much exhausted already and I'm sure that the 4 hour trip down isn't gonna help matters much.  I can't wait to see the girls though, I feel sick because I miss them so much!  Poor Cole had to go to his first Doctor's visit this morning.  (I'm sure he'll be eager to go back again - NOT!)  He had to get some blood drawn and we have to do all the fun stuff like a stool sample.  He has been such a good boy though, and we have had a lot of traveling with him!  A nearly 10 hr. flight home was hard for me to take but he handled it wonderfully!  He was really excited to enter the airport and be in "AMERICA!"  It's funny, I don't know what his concept is of being an American but he hasn't stopped talking about it.  He also keeps talking about Tennis...watch out Anna Kournikova!  He has been having a ball playing with all the toys...even Hadley's baby toys!  He slept great last night.  He just got up to go to the bathroom once then I could hear him playing with his car's in his bedroom this morning.  He's a pretty self sufficient little guy and is good about cleaning up any messes that he makes.  I can't wait for all of our family to meet him.  We could not have found a better little boy to fit in with our family.  He has a lot of personality and a good sense of humor and is quite curious and smart.  We have had such a wonderful adoption experience and I wish everyone else out there that is in this process - Good luck!  We are really happy we did this.  We found out when we were leaving that adoption will be changing over in Ukraine. We are feeling very lucky about our timing.  It sounds like "Adoption," will go from being under, "The Board of Education," to being under something like, "The Board of Health and Youth."  Nastya said that the Director is gone and someone is filling in, in her place to sign all the paperwork and what not until the changes are made.  Apparently our petition for adoption was signed along with 30 others by the "fill-in person," which is why our paperwork went through rather quickly. We wish Oleg's team good luck and hope that everything works out and that they're still able to work in this industry.  We feel it is in the best interest of the children in Ukraine's orphanage system that they still work in this field!  They are doing everything they can and working very hard to place these children in loving homes.  Sergei said that everything is really up in the air at this point but that he thought anyone who already had dossiers in would still be allowed to adopt until whatever date they set for the close down.  He said that they still don't even know a definite date of when and how all these changes would be taking place but that it had been iminent with the new presidency.  I don't know exactly what this means for anyone still hoping to adopt from Ukraine.  I would just say, follow your heart but also have a back up plan.  We are really glad that we chose to adopt in Ukraine and that we met and worked with so many wonderful people.  I would just also think about the possibility of maybe choosing another country later in case you didn't get your paperwork in by whatever deadline Ukraine sets for these changes to take place.  There are so many cute, healthy, smart kids in Ukraine, I hope their government makes their chances for adoption their number one priority. 

We made it. Very uneventful flight.....and oh is it nice to be home! Cole is like a kid in a candy store. We will do a better update in the next week.

JP

We are in Amsterdam...good flight. We fly out tommorow and are very ready to be home. It is nice to be somewhere where most everyone speaks english. We will update at home.

JP

The earliest flight home puts us in Seattle on Sunday. We fly out Saturday afternoon to Amsterdam.....and have a 14 hour layover. They will let us in the country, but not Cole. We had to get a transit Visa for him at The Netherlands embassy in Kiev. Cost $43, took about an hour....not to hard. We then fly out at 10am Sunday and arrive in Seattle 1130am Sunday (gotta love flying backwards). All else is good. Our US embassy interview went well as did Cole's checkup at the American Medical Center. Cole has all is paperwork now, and will become a US citizen when he sets foot on US soil and his passport is stamped by customs. He is very proud and excited to become an American. We will go down to Oregon Monday am to get the girls...just in time for Hadley's 1st birthday on Tuesday. We will celebrate in Salem and all come home on Wednesday. We can't wait to be home and get our family back together.

JP

After a long day of travel to get Cole and fly to Kiev....we are here. Cole was very excited to see us and smiled the whole day long. When we went to get airline tickets they were sold out. Sergei called his father-in-law, who called some governmental friends, who called the airline.....and 30 minuted later, we had 3 tickets at a reduced price (it cost about $350 vs. $650). Even Sergei was surprised how well conected his father-in-law was. Cole was on sensory overload by the time we were on the plane (his first time). He had a great time, but his ears really hurt him on the way down to land. Luckily about 5 people sitting near us talked to him and explained how to get his ears to pop. We have never been anywhere (including home) where people are so friendly and helpful. Our apartment is awesome (the best we have had yet). We have an appoint. at the US Embassy at 10:30 tommorow and will try to get Friday tickets home right after.....cross your fingers. Take care and see ya soon.

JP

Court is complete and we are officially new parents (for the 3rd time) of our son, Cole Michael Parkinson. He will be 7 on July 1, 2005. We began this process at the start of Oct. 2004, and now 9 months later.....a 7 year old boy! Court was very UNEVENTFUL....outside of Sergei trying to get me to sit in the criminal cage in the court room (I almost fell for it...if he wouldn't have laughed.) The rest of the day was spent running here and there to make everthing official, etc. We still do not have Cole, as he is still up at camp. We will pick him up tomorrow, and fly out to Kiev tomorrow afternoon/evening.

JP

Hello!  We are so excited to be finished with court and on our way to being finished with this process.  We can't wait to go get Cole tomorrow.  Today we had court with the other family we met from New Mexico that is adopting 2 siblings.  It was priceless to see the look on their daughters face when they picked her up to take her home from the orphanage.  She had all of her new clothes on and was beaming a smile from ear to ear!  I know Cole will be the same way when we pick him up tomorrow.  We are so gratefull to Sergei and Oleg's team for working so hard and fast to get us through all of this.  Today is our 2nd week here and we can't believe it will be our last.  Tonight will probably be our last night without any kids for a veeeerrrryy long time!  Although I am really happy that we are going to be home with our girls again soon.  It will be a great feeling to be at home with the girls and getting everyone adjusted to our extended family!  Mom and all the family-we will keep you posted about when we plan to fly home. 

Love ya - Summer

Sergei called and said we won't be going to visit Nicholai....instead we will go to court and make him legally our son! We are so excited. Sergei was very suprised that the NAC signed the paperwork so soon, but luckily had already scheduled our court date for tomorrow just incase this happened so quick. We will update with good news as soon as we can.

JP

Being bored today. Nothing much to tell. We are going to see Nicholai tomorrow....unless by some miracle the NAC signs our paperwork tonight (unlikley). They have up to 5 days to sign off on it and they usually take the whole five days. Then...they only release paperwork like this on Mondays and Thursdays. Most likely we should be in court on Friday since our 5 days will be up on Wednesday...they release on Thursday....we get it Friday morning.....this is what we are planning on.

JP

We made a mind boggling discovery yesterday. We found that if we asked for an English menu at many restaurants they have them....who da thunk. It sure makes reading the menu easier. Nothing else to report on...Just DVD's and shopping. It looks like they are setting up for an outdoor concert in Lenin Square (right by our apartment), so we hope to watch something there tonight.

Jon and Summer

Today we went shopping at the outdoor market, which is much more affordable than the stores near our apartment. The stores near us cost about 3x what we would pay for the same item at home. (I guess that is the cost of importing and popularity) We bought a few shirts, shorts, undwear and shoes and socks. When they leave the orphanage, they are literally naked if you don't bring clothes. We did pretty good shopping even though no one spoke english. We would hold up a measuring tape and show how tall he was in centimeters, and the shop owner would help us find the right sizes. (They are not the same as at home). We spent about $35-$40 and got quite a lot. We then went for lunch just in time to avoid a huge thunder storm and downpour. One lighting strike hit about 50 feet away and almost gave us both heart attacks. It rained about 3" in 15 minutes and now is back to 85 degrees. We will probably do more of the same tommorow and Monday, until we can go visit Nicholai at the camp again. Thanks again for all the "hello's"....it is crazy to see that our blog has over 3000 hits in about 10 days now. All for now....

JP

I just wanted to give a little quick "Hello!"  to our family and friends.  We miss you guys!  It is nice to have some down time for a change but this is the time when we really start to miss the girls and everyone back at home!  Overall though we are doing great.  We have met some other hopeful adoptive parents along the way who are having a much harder time with the process.  We hope things get better for them and that they meet that one special child like we have.  We really are grateful for the way things have turned out.  We can't wait for everyone to meet him.  We know that you will all love him as we already do!

Take care,

Summer

Hi everyone! Thanks for all of the support! It helps to know that even though we're in this crazy place where no one understands us or our language, that there are people back home thinking of us. Sergei took us up Nicholai's summer camp today and we spent about 4 hours with him. It was great. He is such a sweet and intelligent boy! The summer camp director was nice enough to let us take him off of the official camp grounds. The area where the summer camp is located is sort of like a resort/camping type area. We took Nicholai and Sergei out to lunch at this fancy new Restaurant and Motel just a little ways a way. (Mom and Mary - it's sorta like a Russian Black Butte, you will see it in the pictures.) Nicholai is quite the eater! (Watch out Kailyn!) He has very good manners though and even tried to eat his french fries with a fork until we told him that he could just pick them up! We gave him some gifts and you would have thought we handed him the world on a silver platter. We just bought him a little construction truck set, bubbles and a Harry Potter ball. He loved the trucks and was holding them up in the air at the camp so everyone could see them. Every time he would finish playing with them he would carefully put them back in the plastic tray then back in the box. It is apparent that they have taught him to be very tidy in the orphanage. The camp director said he is very excited about us and coming to America. We let him keep a book and a picture of us from our first visit and she said he is showing it to everyone and telling them that he is going to be an American. I guess he understood our first visit a lot more than I thought he did! After lunch today we rented a bike for him to ride around the grounds. He hadn't ever been on a bike before so we had to hold him up, in the 100 degree weather...which was exhausting! He was thrilled though and he will catch-on to riding a bike quickly! He also played "Fudboll" with Papa. I think he will be quite an athlete. We needed to take a break so we pulled out the laptop and played "Toystory," for him. Even though it was in English, he loved it. He was rattling off about 100 Russian words per minute with utter excitement. We had no idea what he was saying but it was obvious he was happy. I am proud to say the he definetly loves his Dad. I thought maybe he would have more of an attachment to me since most of the orphanage workers are women but man was I wrong! He follows Jon everywhere saying, "Papa this and Papa that!" He keeps grabbing for Jon's hand and is very affectionate with him. It makes me so glad. We could not be more happy with this boy and the outcome of this adoption so far. We are hoping to go back and visit with him again on Tuesday if we don't have court. Until then we are just hanging around Donetsk and looking for some clothes for Nicholai. We miss everyone back home...ESPECIALLY OUR GIRLS!

Summer
(There are new pictures in the blog entry below this!)

Cousin Cindy - I got your email, Kailyn is more than welcome to go swimming! I'm sure she would love that!

SP

Russ- I asked about any openings at MF&R (Mariianka Fire and Rescue). They said that you would need to have a JATC card or proof of completion of a state approved apprentice program.....do you have either.....didn't think so. Probably better if you stay at the fightin' 72 house of EFR.

JP

Here are more pics from our second visit with Nicholai

We are spending the day resting and looking for some clothes and gifts to take to Nicholai when we visit him tommorow. Nothing new to report.....but it is nice to have a break from driving all over Ukraine 12 hours a day! We will post more after we visit our boy tommorow.

Jon and Summer

Well today was more of the same. We had to get approval from the regional gaurdian councel of Mariianka, and some other things signed by the judge. Sergei was very happy with how thing went today. We got everything wrapped up and sent off on the train to Keiv. The NAC now must sign off on everything which should be mid-next week. We hope to be in court next Friday if all goes well. We got to play with the kids at Nicholai's orphanage today while various paperwork was being done. It was something we will never forget....the kids are all so sweet. We also met a couple from New Mexico and their daughter from the same orphanage. Nicholai is still up at camp, and we plan to visit him on Friday.

We visited the Mariianka Fire Station today. Not quite like home, but the brotherhood was the same. They were a bit rough at first but warmed up quick. They had about 8 guys on shift. There was a Bat. Chief ranked guy....he said he made about $300 a month. The firefighters made about $200 a month. The weird part was that it was station 72....which is my station in Issaquah. They all thought that was cool. They invited me back to have beer whenever I wanted (New York?). I gave them 2 Dept. T-shirts and some patches....they gave me a patch which is really nice.

Things still continue to go great. We really couldn't ask for a better situation. Thanks for the hello's Dane, Matt & Tony. Tony- Hope all is well at the house and the animals aren't driving you nuts....we owe you big time! And yes, I think he can run a bobcat....he loves Tractors (Only you really have to roll the "R" when you say it in Russian.

JP

I'll keep my post short.  We are really exhausted.  We have been in the car for the last two days running around and doing this paperwork.  Sergei is the best and is trying everything he can to speed up this process and we thank him for that!  The highlight of our day today was playing with the kids at the orphanage.  They are so sweet and did their best English for us.  They were so excited to get our attention and to just simply throw around a ball with us.  I told Jon these children are amazing to watch - they are still just happy playing with a pile of dirt and a ball that must be 10 years old!  Their clothes and shoes are terrible but I think all of their resources right now are going to the repair of their building.  We have seen their new cafeteria and it is awesome!  I only hope the rest of their school can look as well when they're done!  We are so looking forward to seeing Nicholai on friday!  We can't stop looking at his picture.  His teacher at the orphanage gave us a picture of him that was taken when he first came there.  I look at his sweet, innocent little face and can't imagine what he has seen and been through in his short little life.  I hope that our love and care can make up for all the pain he has been through.  I can't get his sweet little Russian speaking voice out of my mind!  I also cannot wait to get him together with Kailyn - they are going to have such a great time together!  Thanks to everyone for all the support and well wishes!  It's so nice to read them everyday.  (Sharon - sorry about your cat!  That is so sad!)  Thanks also to the people out in the adoption community that we don't even personally know.  It's nice to share the experiences with you all.  Until tomorrow....

Summer

We ran all over Donetsk today getting this and that notarized and signed. (Sergei has been great) For those who are deciding whether to use an agency or go indy. I can only say that we couldn't be happier with our team (Oleg and staff) This is not meant to be arrogant, but we almost feel bad for people that aren't using his team. Their level of professionalism and quality of connections in the country are incredible. We are now just in the hurry up and wait mode to get all of the paperwork completed for court. We hope to go see Nicholai again in the next couple of days... it is 2 hours+ one way (very bumpy, but beautiful). All else is well...

JP

Here are some pictures from our visit with Nicholai yesterday

I'll make this quick, as I'm sure that Summer will type about 10 pages on this. We ran all over today.... 1st to the Local inspector in Mariinka. On the way we had some car trouble though. Some parts broke that connected the throttle cable to the carburetor. Sergei had some wire in his trunk, so I did a quick fix and we were on our way. I informed him that in the USA that would be known as a "McGuyver Rig/ Fix"...he laughed and said he had heard of the show. We stopped by the auto parts store on the way and bought a new part. Sergei had trouble getting it to clip on properly...so I gave it a try. I got it on quick and the mechanic was impressed and told Sergei that, "I must have ate a bigger breakfast". All went fine from there and we met with the inspector for about 15 minutes for another referral. We then went to the orphanage and met with the nurse and a head teacher that knew Nicholai well. They gave us a great deal of info on him. We stayed there for about an hour and went to visit Nicholi at the camp.....Summer will tell the rest

JP

Okay, I promise not to write a 10 page description of our car problems...I will have to teach Nicholai to call Dad, "Papa Mc Goober."   Ooops, I mean Papa McGuyver.  Haha!  Anyway, we have definetly found our boy!  It was not a difficult decision.  We were told many things about Nicholai's history and medical description.  He is generally in good health and a good size boy for being in the orphanage.  His history is as I suspected.  His mother was young and her parental rights were terminated because of their poor living conditions and neglect.  He lived in a shelter for a short while before going to the orphanage.  He would have been in the orphanage for a year in August.  Long story short.  We went to the summer camp to meet Nicholai.  It was a two hour drive but it was in the country and was a really nice drive.  The summer camp is pretty cool and the town it is in is considered a resort/vacation town.  When we were first introduced to Nicholai he seemed very shy.  We didn't really know what to say to him because of the language barrier.  We showed him pictures of our family which he really liked.  He also managed to scarf down the huge chocolate bar that I brought him in about 2 seconds flat!  He seems to have a very good vocabulary and is very polite.  The Summer camp director told us that he had some scratches on his face...(Mom & Mary that is what the green stuff is on his face in the pictures, they put some kind of iodine on the scratches.)  Anyway, we asked to take him outside to the play ground and spend some time with him alone.  (Before going to visit Nicholai, I told Jon to make it a point to make physical and affectionate contact with him because I wasn't sure if he had much of that with a Father figure before.  I think most of the orphanage staff are women.)  Jon held hands with Nicholai on the way out to the playground and he seemed very receptive.  They also played on the teeter-totter, gave him a piggy-back ride, ran around and threw pine cones.  They had a good time.  We sat with Nicholai and read a book and went over our photo album again.  He repeated everything we would say to him in English and also rattled off many Russian words, (which we didn't know!)  He is extremely smart!  He should have no problem beginning Kindergarten!  They don't begin the first grade over here until they are 7.  This September would have been his first year.  He also loved our camera.  Jon showed him how to take pictures and he had that figured out really fast.  We are more than thrilled with this little boy.  Sergei explained to him that we wanted to be his "Mama and Papa," and asked if he wanted to live with us in America.  He said, "Da."  (Yes.)  He is super smart, physically and developmentally on target and receptive to our affection.  He would remember specific things in English that we had taught him throughout our conversation.  When we left we explained that we would be back to pick him up and he would go home with us and stay with us forever.  He gave us both hugs and kisses!  He is such a sweet boy!  We could not have been any luckier!!!!  (We will try to post pictures for everyone to see ASAP but "blog-city" is making some changes...wonderful timing, so we are unable to do so tonight.  We will keep everyone posted.)  Sergei says he will do his best to move everything along as quickly as possible.  We are hoping, if our luck continues, that we will have a court date somewhere around the 17th of this month.  We may be home within a week or so after that.  Nicholai's birthday is on the 1st of July and he will be "Syem."  (Seven)  Maybe we will do a big combination birthday party for him and Hadley.  Oh, one more thing, we have been telling him Kailyn and Hadley's names and it is so cute because he sometimes mixes the two names and says "Kaidley."  Just wait until he has to say Kylie too!  He will be so confused!  Love to all the family and especially my girls!  WE MISS YOU!!!!  (Kylie and Jake- I know you especially will love this little guy I just can't get over how cute he is!)

Just being bored today. We have been watching 1-2 DVD's a day to pass the time. It has been very nice to have them....we brought about 30, so I'm sure we'll end up watching all of them. We look forward to a busy day tommorow and hope that all goes well.

Nice Comment Kylie!

JP

Hi everyone.  As Jon said, we aren't up to a whole lot.  We just went out for lunch.  They have great food here, (When you can read what you're ordering!)  We seem to be eating out just one big meal a day then we snack at the apartment the rest of the time.  Kylie-thank you for your concern about our cleanliness! Haha!  We are managing to stay pretty clean we have unlimited hot water in the apartment.  Hurray!  The laundry on the other hand is a pain in the butt!  I will never again complain about doing laundry.  We somehow forgot to pack our clothes line so we bought jump ropes at the store to use...go figure, they have jump ropes but no clothes lines!  Hand washing clothes isn't fun though...Oh well, we are spoiled americans!  One funny thing you can tell Kailyn - they are playing Madagascar here at the cinema.  We are doing well overall, just getting bored waiting around.  There are some really fancy clothing stores and what-not in this area.  We use the internet at this really beautiful motel here called, "Donbass Palace."  Anyway, we are really excited about tomorrow and can't wait to meet Nicholai.  We will be in touch as soon as possible to update everyone...wish us luck!   (Mom and Mary - phone cards are really expensive and we are running out of minutes on the current one, we will call and give you the number of a cell phone that you can contact us on for emergencies but it may be really expensive for you to call us as well.  We may have to start making calls shorter and just keep in touch via internet.  We are also able to read our email so if you want to send something private you can do that too!)

Love you - Summer

There isn't really a whole lot to report.  Jon and I both have colds so we are trying to take it easy today.  We went out to lunch at a cafe today, not quite sure if it was German or Ukrainian style food.  They did have English on the menus but the waiter didn't speak that much English.  I tried some Borshe.  It wasn't too bad.  The bread is great here, I am practically living on it!  Jon had sausages and potatoes and they were really good as well.  We went into a pharmacy and that was quite interesting.  They have just about everything you need but I believe you have to ask the workers to take the items out of the glass cases for you.  (We didn't buy anything, I was trying to find Neosporin for my poor blistered feet but couldn't find it!)  We look forward everyday to updating the blog and reading the comments from home.  Thanks for all of the support.  I am doing some extensive journaling on our laptop at the apartment.  I wanted to have all the details for our child to read someday.  I might publish most of it when we get back after the trip.  It would have a lot of useful information for other prospective adoptive parents and some interesting cultural perspectives too.  Things are pretty quiet at the apartment and I don't quite know what to do with myself.  I don't think I'll complain as much about the noise level when we get home.  I miss the cartoons blaring in the background and the sound of Kailyn and Hadley's laughter.  Hopefully we will have one more child to add to it all!  We did watch Jimmy Neutron in Russian last night...you know you're missing your kids something awful when you're willing to do that!  Anyway, we'll write more later! 

Summer

Speaking of TV, I also watched American Choppers in Russian. Paul Jr. and Sr. don't seem to argue as much when there voices are dubbed over in Russian. When they describe things as cool, awesome, tight or sick.......the translation always comes across as "good".

JP

Busy day today. We went to get our referral signed at the NAC today (1100 am), packed (1230), caught a plane to Donetsk (330 pm) and arrived here at 5 pm. Alexei drove us all over Kiev to get things signed and buy tickets, go to the airport, etc. Sergei picked us up at the airport...here is the best part- After landing we walked off the plane and boarded a bus designed for 20 people and managed to fit in 100. Next we drove the bus about 100-150 feet and unloaded....no joke. We're not in Kansas anymore. Sergei found us a very nice apartment in the middle of town (right by Lenin Square). He showed us around and took us shopping. He was very nice and extremely helpful. We ate at an Irish pub tonight, and it was the best meal we have had so far. We will spend the weekend looking around, and on Monday we hope to visit Nicholai after meeting with the regional inspector and orphange director.

JP

As you can read above, today has been a busy day and things are moving very quickly for us.  We had about a half hour to pack and try to cram some food down our throats.  If I don't lose some weight by the end of this trip there is something seriously wrong!  Today is only the 3rd time that we have eaten out.  I am on the bread and banana diet right now.  The best advice I can give is to bring snack food with you because things have moved so quickly for us that we have been too tired to run around to restaurants to eat.  Anyway, we are in Donetsk and is a really pretty region.  We like it much better than Kiev.  Sergei  is super nice and we are excited to be here in the area where our child (hopefully, our child to be) has grown up.  We were hoping to get to the orphanage asap but we will have to wait until Monday.  Nicholai is away at summer camp about 120km.  away. (We were told that is about 1 1/2-2 hrs. drive away.)  Donetsk is an industrial and coal mining town with a population of about 1 million, it is the 2nd largest city in Ukraine.  Kiev is the largest city with a population of about 5 million.   There is a lot of polution in Donetsk so they try to send the kids away to camp every summer to get fresh air and see the countryside.  We are hoping to meet the inspector, go to the orphanage and meet with the director and drive to see Nicholai on Monday.  Sergei said that he spoke with the orphanage director today and she said that Nicholai becomes very sad every time he sees other families coming to visit and adopt the other children.  He can't understand why no has come to adopt him.  I can't stop thinking about how he was supposed to be up for adoption a year ago but his paper work was lost.  Sergei said he had heard that to and that God must have had a plan for him.  Anyway, Jon and I are completely exhausted.  We will just be touring this area over the weekend and trying to catch up on rest.  We will update this with more of the adoption info. on Monday.  We love and miss everyone back home.  (Mike, Mary, Kailyn and Hadley-hope you have a great time at the beach this weekend.  We will be thinking of you!)  Mom, Kylie, Jake & Jim- miss & love you guys too! 

Summer

Here are some pictures from Kiev. There are some from the apartment, and some from our sight seeing with Julia. (Steve, I put in a picture for you).

JP

We had our appointment today and for me it was a welcome relief.  We had a good experience and spent the whole hour looking at many children.  The atmosphere was not at all what we had read.  We took this appointment very seriously.  Jon wore a suit and tie and I dressed up as well.  We took a scrapbook that we made specifically for our child of our family.  We tried our best to communicate with the worker at the NAC what our family was like and what we were looking for in a child.  I even tried out my very broken Russian language speaking skills, everyone got a good laugh!  We looked at many books and asked many questions but our choice was an obvious one.  We are going to be travelling to the Donetsk region to meet with a boy named Nicholai who will be turning 7 in July.  We are hopeful that he will be our child.  He was very cute in his picture and is said to be healthy, smart, and well liked.  He looked like he could pass as our biological child and maybe had a similar appearance to our daughter Kailyn but he had much blonder hair.  We hear that Donetsk is a good region to adopt from and that the orphanage is more like a school.  Everything has been going well for us so far.  Oleg and his team are fantastic.  They are all very nice and helpful and have made us feel at ease during this stressful process.  The people we worked with at the NAC were nice as well.  We have met some really great american couples while we have been here and we wish them all the best of luck!  I had no idea we would run into so many other couples while we were here.  It's good to visit with other people who are experiencing the same process.  We have done some sightseeing around Kiev and are feeling comfortable and having a good time.  Our apartment is nice too.  We are hoping to fly to Donetsk instead of traveling by train.  We figure it's worth the extra money.  We will try to update this blog as often as possible but we are unsure what internet access will be like in the region.  If we aren't able to update we will call and have family update with the latest news.  To friends and family - We love and miss you very much and can't wait to be at home again! Give my girls lots of hugs and kisses please!

It is 6am on Thursday here...can't sleep...to anxious. Thought I would say thanks to all that have been visiting our blog. When we left on Monday, we had about 200 hits.....it is now almost 700! We'll update later.

JP

We finally found and internet connection in a hotel near our apartment....it is about dsl speed. We slept pretty good last night up until about 3am (Kiev time). We met with Lynee & John yesterday and talked with them for about an hour. For those who aren't familiar with it, there is a listing of families currently in Ukraine on americanexpat.blog-city.com. They have been here for a few weeks and are heading out today to visit their second referal....we hope things work out for them, they have had a rough/slow process so far. They had nothing but good things to say about Oleg's team though, which made us feel good. We have our appointment tommorow, so we should be able to post another update tommorow evening.

JP

This is Summer-  We went and ate at the mall last night.  Not too bad.  There is also a movie theater that shows english speaking movies at certain times of the day.  It is a pretty interesting mall!  We did some walking around last night but didn't really do much.  Today we're going to make an attempt to buy some things at the grocery store.  We may meet up with another couple from Ireland that is working with Oleg's team as well and do some touring around the city (If we're not too tired!)  The apartment is pretty cool.  I'm glad that I packed snacks, a small pillow, blanket, a towel and wash cloths.  Not to mention medicine, we have already used a lot of this!  Nastya and Alexei picked us up from the airport.  They are both cool and Nastya is gorgeous.  She reminds me of Amber from "Survivor."  She answered all of our many questions truthfully and really put our minds at ease.  She took me down to convert some money and buy a phone card while Alexei helped Jon unload luggage at the apartment.  They also bought us a few necessities from the grocery store.  They had a really nice car, a Suburu Forester with air conditioning!!!  Pretty nice when it's as hot and humid as it was yesterday...FYI, they are protective of their car (who wouldn't be over here) so don't slam their doors shut.  Just a little tip we heard :)  Anyway, we are safe and miss our girls like crazy!!!  Kailyn I love you and miss you, I hope your having fun with Grammy and Nana and family.  Hadley (I know you can't read but I love you and miss you too!)  Grammy and Nana- give the girls lots of hugs and kisses for us!  We will write tomorrow if we can and let you know how the appointment was and where we may be headed this weekend!  WE LOVE YOU GUYS!  -Summer

Jon and Summer have arrived in Kiev and reached the apartment they will be staying in. The flight from Amsterdam was good. Summer says it was hot today in Kiev but that a storm was forecast that should cool things off. They called their parents in Salem a little after 7 a.m. today, May 31. They're hoping to get Internet connection soon. More later.

It is actually 8am on the 31st here and we just arrived at 730. The flight was actually pretty easy, but oh man is this one big airport. We had to walk about a mile from one terminal to the other. All else is good and we hope to post soon from Kiev.

JP

Jon and I are leaving today!  I can't believe the day has finally arrived.  I'm scared, nervous, anxious and excited but mostly hopeful for what the future holds.  We dropped the girls off in Salem over the weekend.  The ride home sure was quiet.  We also went out to dinner at Applebee's last night.  Big mistake for me!  I got really sick...maybe it is nerves though!  (I thought this was supposed to happen in Ukraine!)   Jon had to dig through all of our luggage to get me some medicine.  Today I am feeling better and plan to take some Ambien on the plane and pass out until I wake up in Amsterdam.  I am missing the girls and it is weird to be in an empty house.  I missed going to get Hadley out of her crib this morning and bringing her back to my bed to snuggle.  Kailyn, I miss you filling the house with your singing and laughter!  I know this trip will really make me thankful for all that I have (I already am!)  Maybe it will even make our kids appreciate us more. Hahahah!  I want to send out a GIANT THANK-YOU to Grammy and Grampy Cain, Nana and Papa Parkinson, Aunt Kylie and Uncle Jake for taking care of the girls...and anyone else who may be helping.  Thanks to our neighbors Tony and Michele for taking care of our house and the crazy cats, dog and fish.  Thanks to Ed for doing the bills and Thanks to Dana for driving us to the airport.  Thank-you to all of our family and friends for being so supportive through out this journey.  We will try to update this when we arrive and let you know how we are adjusting!

We fly out tommorow.....hooray! We left the girls down in Oregon this weekend and came home today. We are now trying to pack 100 lbs of clothes into a 50 lb bag.....lots of fun. We will do our best to keep this blog up to date via us or our family!

JP

Next week this time we will be at the NAC. We are taking the girls down the grandparents tommorow and will fly out for Kiev this weekend. All though it is going to be very hard for us to be away from the girls for so long, we have been able to see some exciting things out of both of them in the last week. Kailyn was able to swim with no help or float devices this week at swim class. Hadley has been taking her first steps and can now go 10-15 steps before falling down. We will most likely miss her 1st birthday (June 21st), but we can always celebrate it when we return....she won't know the difference (this is obviously a bigger issue to us than it is to a 1 year old). Unfortunatly Kailyn is fighting a cold and ear/ eye infections right now...hopefully she will feel better before we fly out.

JP