Home at last!

We had an uneventful trip home with Masha.  No running to catch planes and no problems through customs...Praise the Lord!  It is hard to believe we are finally home with all our children.  Thank you for all your prayers and please don't hesitate to contact us if you or some one you know has any questions about adopting from Ukraine.  Please pray for us as we transition to life with a sixth child.

Back in Kyiv

We had another "fun" transportation opportunity here in Ukraine last night.  We finished getting the birth certificate and passport for Masha, but we were unable to get train tickets to Kyiv.  The original tickets had been made for next week by mistake and we couldn't get them last minute.  So we were "lucky" to get the opportunity to take a bus from Donetsk to Kyiv and lucky for us it was an overnight trip over the worst paved roads I have ever seen.  The bus often had to come to a complete stop before passing over the potholes and bumps in the road.  The bus was modern, even by our standards.  Each seat even had its own lcd screen with movies and games.  The trip took 11 hours later we arrived tired, but safe and began our day of running.
Our first stop in Kyiv was to our 3 bedroom apartment we are sharing with David & Ingrid Semans.  We stayed only long enough to drop off our luggage, the we were on our way to the US Embassy to apply for Masha's visa.  When we were finished at the Embassy we had to take her for a doctors appointment.  We went with her for her appointment and the doctor informed us of her condition and her vaccinations.  So now we only need to pick up our visa tomorrow and we are ready to come home.
We will be leaving Kyiv on Friday morning and arrive in Rochester Friday night.  We are happy to finally be at the end of of this journey and have Maria (Masha) Faithlynn Grizenko as a permanent part of our family and lives.

Saying goodbye to Viktor for last time.

She is OURS!

The hardest part of our time here in Ukraine is finally over.  We no longer have to leave Masha in the orphanage after our daily visit.  Tonight we took her with us when we left, her life of being without a family is officially over and she has a family....forever.  We took some gifts for Masha to give to her teachers and classmates.  Its hard to leave all these children that need a family, but we pray that God will use our experience here to draw another family to the need that these children have.
We have also been told that a family in Virginia has stepped forward to host two childres, so the Chrismas hosting is a go.  Please pray that we find a home for some more of these children by the end of the week.  Viktor needed our camera for tonight, so I'll post pictures when I get a chance.  Thanks for all your prayers!

Almost there!

We have almost finished our waiting period and we are eagerly waiting to take Masha out of the orphanage.  We expect our gotcha moment to be Monday night, but its not a sure thing. (it may end up being Tuesday morning)
Please pray that it will be Monday night :)

 Tuesday will be a day full of travel and paperwork and the timing will be tight for us to make the train to Kyiv in the evening.  Please pray that there are no problems with passports and such and that we make the train on time.  Its hard to believe we have been in Ukraine for over 4 weeks, but we are ready to return home with Masha and be  reunited with the rest of our children.  Thank you to all who have been praying for us.  I'll try to keep updating our progress towards our return home.

The clock is ticking!

We were told today that two of the children on the list to be hosted are going to be hosted.  Sergey (the last boy on the list) and Ola (who was not on the list because we knew she was going to be hosted) are confirmed to be hosted.  There also was some news that concerns us.  There needs to be at least three children hosted for the Christmas hosting.  If we don't find at least one more family to host a child, then none of the children will be hosted.  The cost to host is $2800 and we have been informed that there is a $1500 scholarship to go towards the cost of the hosting for the first family to contact us and confirm they are hosting.  Don't let the financial aspect of hosting an orphan discourage you, God will take care of it.  I'm reposting the pictures....please consider these children!

Sasha Eksarov  - August  1998
Sasha has been hosted in the past by a family from France, but
he wants to come to America because he wants to be adopted.

Illya & Svyatoslav - Oct 2000, and April 2003
These boys are very friendly with each other and others.  Illya
teaches and takes care of his younger brother always.
He taught his younger brother to ride a bike.
They want a family in America. 

Vladik - April 2000
Vladik is a very active boy.  He tried to teach us Russian while
we went on a walk with his class.  He wants to know how
people choose to adopt a specific child.  Is it his turn?

Slava - Nov, 1998
Slava always has a smile on his face.  Imagine his smile if he
gets to spend three weeks in America with your family

Dima & Sergey - Jan 1996 and Nov 2001
These brothers need a home.  Sergey has food allergies that
have caused a rash on his face.  He needs a mom and dad to take
care of him and his older brother.

Evgeniy - November 1998
Zhenya is a very athletic boy.  He excels at all the activities he
participates in.  He is a hard worker too.

Vanya - Feb 1999

Dima - May 1998
He is what we call a gentle giant because of his height and
the way he interacts with the other children.  Maybe your
family needs a "Gentle Giant"

Sasha Y. - May 1999
Sasha is good friends with Vanya (John Semans) and
he will be sad to see him leave.  Lets give him a surprise
reunion with Vanya this Christmas.

Sasha

Valera - Nov 1999

Zhenya -  Dec 1997

Alex - July 1996
Alex has been hosted two times and hasn't been
adopted for reasons not related to him.  Lets give him hope!  He is a
friendly boy who just wants to have a forever
family.

Edik -      Feb, 2000
His super friendly smile will melt your heart.  He cheerfully joined
the class and the visiting adults in frisbee, jump rope,
and "teaching" Russian words to the old folks!  

Sergey M. - July 2003  Hosted

One week to go...

We are counting down the days to our return home with our daughter.  We hope to find out later this week what day to change our return plane tickets to.  Our time at the orphanage has been spent, for the most part, only with our own children, with some visits from Zhenya and Toly.  Please continue to pray that all of the children listed will be hosteda nd maybe adopted.  One praise is that it has been confirmed that Ola will be hosted for the Christmas Hosting, now lets get them all hosted.

Please Host Us...We need a family!

Below are the children available to be hosted through Ukrainian Resource Center for the month of December.  We shared some info about the children we have spent time with.  Please consider giving one or more of these children the gift of experience what its like to have a family for Christmas.  For more information please go to http://www.ukrainianresourcecenter.com/hosthome.html or let us know and we will give you contact info.

Sasha Eksarov  - August  1998
Sasha has been hosted in the past by a family from France, but
he wants to come to America because he wants to be adopted.

Illya & Svyatoslav - Oct 2000, and April 2003
These boys are very friendly with each other and others.  Illya
teaches and takes care of his younger brother always.
He taught his younger brother to ride a bike.
They want a family in America. 

Vladik - April 2000
Vladik is a very active boy.  He tried to teach us Russian while
we went on a walk with his class.  He wants to know how
people choose to adopt a specific child.  Is it his turn?

Slava - Nov, 1998
Slava always has a smile on his face.  Imagine his smile if he
gets to spend three weeks in America with your family

Dima & Sergey - Jan 1996 and Nov 2001
These brothers need a home.  Sergey has food allergies that
have caused a rash on his face.  He needs a mom and dad to take
care of him and his older brother.

Evgeniy - November 1998
Zhenya is a very athletic boy.  He excels at all the activities he
participates in.  He is a hard worker too.

Vanya - Feb 1999

Dima - May 1998
He is what we call a gentle giant because of his height and
the way he interacts with the other children.  Maybe your
family needs a "Gentle Giant"

Sasha Y. - May 1999
Sasha is good friends with Vanya (John Semans) and
he will be sad to see him leave.  Lets give him a surprise
reunion with Vanya this Christmas.

Sasha

Valera - Nov 1999

Zhenya -  Dec 1997

Alex - July 1996
Alex has been hosted two times and hasn't been
adopted for reasons not related to him.  Lets give him hope!  He is a
friendly boy who just wants to have a forever
family.

Edik -      Feb, 2000
His super friendly smile will melt your heart.  He cheerfully joined
the class and the visiting adults in frisbee, jump rope,
and "teaching" Russian words to the old folks!  

Sergey M. - July 2003