FLIGHT HOME

For those that are interested we will arrive home Friday Aug 7th at 2:52 pm. United 6006.

Birth Certificate and Passport

Our day started at 7:30 am. We first went to the judge to get our decree so that we could finish the paperwork. Then we went to get Katia's birth certificate, they weren't working today, SURPRISE! So Natasha got on her phone and called the woman she said she would come at 1:00 and have it ready by 2 for us. So we went to the notary and got the other papers notarized, the court decree. Then we wen to get Katia from the camp permamently. They were really picky this time they had to see the court decree and everything. Katia said goodbye to her friends, it was sad, especially since I don't think those kids will have a chance of being adopted with the way things are in that region. We found out they are still upset about Katia being separated from her brothers that they have involved the KGB. Irena has an appointment with the KGB today. Natasha pointed out to the director of the orphanage that it is against the national law to stop adoptions that the SDA have approved. The SDA had no problem with the separation. We went to lunch then headed back to get the birth certificate for Poltava then we headed to Krememchuk. We had to keep it really quiet while we were there, we didn't want to cause any more problems. It was 5:30 and Natasha and Vld talked to the passport man and he said he would meet us at the passport office in Poltava between 7:00 and 7:30. So another wild ride. Vladimir is such a crazy driver. So at about 8:30 pm we return to our apartment. We have Sara's new birth certificate and her passport.

Sunday

We went to church at the Poltava Branch. It was good to be with them again. The cute sister missionaries are coming home in a couple of weeks, so we have asked them to help teach Katia. The members are so friendly and are curious about the process of adopotion. So when we go we answer alot of questions. The branch is growing and the missionaries usually bring an investigator with them every Sunday.

Saturday Activities

Saturday morning Irena went and got Katia from the camp so she could get her money from the bank. Needless to say it wasn't as much as what they thought. So Katia won't have as much money in her account when we get home. We got our cute translator, Marina, and went to lunch at the pizza place. Then we walked around Poltava. Katia has never seen the sights here in Poltava so it is to bad that we didn't get to spend more time outside of camp with her. We went to a couple of parks, the fountains were going(they only turn them on on the weekends) and all the brides. Saturday is the big wedding day around here. On the way to the park with the dumpling monument there is a building where the justice of the peace is. All the brides are lined up outside the door waiting for their turn. The cars are all decorated up, they put bows and ribbons on the front ends. Katia could only spend a couple of hours with us before we had to take her back to camp. Only a couple more days of saying goodbye to her.

Oh What Do You Do.....

Sorry that I haven't posted recently. But all we do is sit in our apartment and then in the afternoon go to the camp to visit Katia. Bob and I saw all the sights in Poltava last year, some of them twice. We wanted to take Katia with us but they won't allow haer out of the camp. Natasha even recommended that we don't go to the camp everyday, because they are watching us. So Bob has read 2 books, I am on my second and have finished crocheting around a blanket and burpcloth. They are for my new grandbaby that is ready to be born any day now. We are hoping that he/she won't make an appearance until we are home. Our daugther Shemay had a baby girl the Thursday before we left, I hope she hasn't grown to much while we have been gone.

Here we are with the judge.

Sorry we had to keep it quiet when our court date was, we have had so much controversy over our case.

The Court

Well today was our court hearing. It went really well, the judge was kind. It only lasted about 30 minutes. Of course the orphanage was there saying they did not approve it, but the city inspector said that we had met all the requirements and therefore they approved. The prosecutor asked how many children we had and how would we be able to take care of Katia, we explained that most of our children were living on their own. Then he said that he approved. The Judge asked Katia why she didn't go with her brothers and she said that she loved us and want us to be her mom and dad. Her courage to stand up and say what she wants is what has carried us through all the people that don't want this adoption to take place. She has never wavered. The judge asked us how we would communicate we told him sign, pantomime and he just laughed. Then we told him that Nadiya and Stephen would help, he said now that you will have three children maybe you need to learn Ukrainian. The Judge and his helpers left the court room for all of 5 minutes to make their decision. When the judge came back he declared us her parents and that her birth certificate would be changed accordingly with the name Sara Kateryna Fuhriman. He shook our hands and congratulated us and then we got a picture with him. When we got in the car Natasha called the director of the orphanage to see if Katia could stay with us now. She told her no, the region lady is keeping an eye on us, she knows when we go to the camp, what we do there and where we go when we are there. She still thinks Katia shouldn't have been separated from her brothers. She is really causing problems, all the children are still in the camp after their court hearings. The region lady is meeting with the orphanag3 director about twice a week to stop her from internatioanl adoptions. Actually international adooptions have increased this year in this region despite her. So we will just play along and not cause anymore ripples. By the way one of the people who sat on the board of guardians, she voted against separation, had a heart attack on Monday, she was worried about her job. so we took Katia back to the camp after she had been with us most of the afternoon. She was not real happy about it but she understood.

Church in Poltava

We went to church on Sunday, it was wonderful to be with the saints. We tried to go last Sunday but they had moved the location. We went to the building that it was at last year and it wasn't there so I looked it up on the church website and found the address. It is a much nicer building than the last one but it doesn't have AC. We walked in the door and was greeted by the missionaries, they thought we were the new mission president, he was arriving soon. After we told them who we were and why we are in Poltava, some of the members recognized us from last year. The Pattee's, the senior couple, just left a couple of months ago. The cute young man that translated for us last year married the Sunday School teacher and is now the Branch President. The elders and sisters translated for us, they are so helpful. One of the sister's was talking to Bob that we need to take pictures of the children and encourage others to come and adopt. It is so difficult to adopt in the Poltava Region, I would have a hard time encouraging others. It was wonderful and I had my cup filled.

Visiting At Camp

It is so hard to go there everyday to spend just a little while with Katia. We have to pay a taxi to get there and then pay to have him wait for us. There really isn't anything to do there we sat through part of a program but Natasha said it was pretty vulgar. We were so spoiled with Nadiya, we got to keep her with us a few days after we got there. This year all the children from Poltava are at the camp, no one was allowed to go to Italy or France fro the summer. There is also children that are mentally delayed from another orphanage there this year. They are really cute kids and very friendly, especially if we have brought treats to Katia.
So on Saturday we decided to do something different. We brought a little portable DVD player with us, we took it to the camp with "High School Musical 3". We sat down and watched it there on one of the benches, pretty soon we had a bunch of kids surrounding us watching too. The kids from the other orphanage came over, one sat between Bob and I with his arm around me and one sat on Bob's lap. Another little girls sat next to Katia. They seemed like they hadn't had very many experiences. They have such sweet spirits, you can tell that they are some of God's special children. We are taking to DVD back today to finish the show, maybe we can get a picture.

Katia's Grandpa

Katia is next to her Uncle and then her Grandfather. Katia looks alot like her grandfather, especially her nose. We were so grateful for them to come and support Katia. We definately will keep in touch with them.

At Camp

Her we are visiting Katia and her friend Kshausha(?)She is the one who has let Katia use her phone.

We Have It!

Vladimir picked up the paper for the separation. The man signed it, so everything is ok, except now there are a few people afraid for their jobs. It's sad when they feel that it was right and have to be afraid. Vladimir hurried back from Krememchuk and we went to go before the City Council. The gentleman over it said that he had a letter from Katia that she wanted to go with us and the letter of separation, so Katia didn't need to be there. So Vlad, Natasha, Bob and Me went to see him. He was very friendly and asked about our jobs and family. Then he smiled and told us to go adopt Katia. It was great. The people in Poltava are wonderful and really care about their children. Vladimir and Natasha hurried to Keiv to turn our paperwork in to the SDA. And to pick up the Lobos at the airport on Saturday. So later we went to visit Katia. We had a 17 year old girl as a translator. It will be good to have Katia with us all the time so she will try to understand us and not depend on the translator. Bob and I had forgotten how hard it was to cummunicate at first. Katia loves us and we love her so everything will be fine.

Separation letters

Two days ago we found out that the foster mom had the two brothers write letters protesting the separation. They said they were forced to do it but I really wonder. If she hadn't called in the first place things wouldn't have happened like this. Of course the two brothers weren't there to today at the Board of Guardians, they probably couldn't look Katia in the face.

Board of Guardians

We were so nervous and it was so hot in the room we all about melted. the head of the board started talking and said, "Well Katia's brothers don't want to be separated so we can't let her go." Vladimir stood up and told them that according to the law she was old enough to make her decision and since the brothers already separated themselves from her by going to the foster family. Katia's Grandfather and Uncle came, we were worried that they would not let her go, But her grandfather stood up and said that no one has visited her and that he cannot take take of her that he was willing to let her go with us so she could be happy and have a family, the uncle agreed. The grandfather was so cute during the proceedings he came over and looked Katia in the eyes and asked her if she loved us and wanted to be with us, Katia said yes and he said that it was fine and bent down put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her forhead. When it seemed like they were not going to alow us to take her Katia stood up and said that she didn't want to be with her brothers and that she loved us, she started to cry then I started to cry. The board finally decided to ask us some questions, what our home is like, how many children, about Nadiya and Stephen. Oh this was the best question: How soon will we return for a visit? We couldn't say never but I sure wanted to. Who would check up on us and the children? Like they keep track of the kids up at camp! But an Ukrainian family might come and adopt her, please she has been in the orphanage for 8 years and the older they get the less likely. Well they finally put it to a vote 9 for the separation, 3 against and 4 obstained. Boy what a relief, Katia was so quiet I think she thought she hadn't done what she was suppose to do. They wanted her to be more out spoken, but that isn't really her nature. Maybe it was best for her to sit quietly until the right moment when she really told them how she felt. We left and talked to Katia's grandfather and uncle and got their address and a picture with them. Katia didn't even know who they were but she sure looks like her grandfather, they are from her mothers side. Vladimir and Natasha went back up and news had already traveled to the lady over the region(we are a very high profile case) she has already threatened those that agreed to the separation with their jobs. What a witch!!!! We still need to get the letter tomorrow signed by the guy in charge of the board of guardians, he wasn't there today. So there is still a chance that they could change their minds. So keep praying. Tomorrow we visit with the City Inspector and their board, it will be a piece of cake compared to today. The Inspector likes us and we like her. We have had to take the guy from the camp for our representative from the orphanage, he's a good guy

The Battle Begins!

Natasha and Vladimir were so sure that things were moving along just wonderfully until.....we went to visit Katia's brothers. We left Poltava and headed to the home of the foster family where Katia's brothers, Misha 17 and Slavic 9, live. We were greeted by Misha, well kinda, he said something and went into the house. Soon papa comes around the corner with no shirt zipping up his pants and mama comes out the front door. We came just to visit and to let her brothers meet us. Irena started talking to Misha about how he was doing in school and about Katia wanting to live with us. She never mentioned the letter of separation that he would eventually have to sign. But Mama only heard parts and pieces of the conversation so she called the authorities over foster care in the region. We were invited into their home and they took us around the home. We met there other children, their oldest,19, adopted when he was a baby, a girl 10, two girl foster children, 10 and 6 and Katia's brothers. They all seemed very nice. We didn't know that mama had called the authorities until we had met and talked for a little bit. As we were talking Natasha told us we needed to leave, to late they had arrived. There were three of them, two women and a man. The man never really said anything. They were all upset because mama had told them that we were forcing Misha to sign the letter, but that was never our intention. The foster mom said that Katia had be there a couple of weekends every month, we knew that wasn't true because we would call Katia almost every weekend and she was at the orphanage. Mama didn't even acknowledge Katia, talk to her or hug her. Katia held on to me the whole time. Mama said that Misha was really upset the Katia was going to America, I think watching him he was jealous. He never talked to Katia while we were there. Katia was asked if she had talked to us often and she said yes and then the one woman called her a liar. Katia left with Irena. And Natasha told the woman that she had no right to treat Katia that way. When we finally made the authorities listen to the real story why we were there and that we had a right to be there, they calmed down and wished us the best of luck. We breathed a sigh of relief so we thought. After we had gotten into the car the director of the orphanage called. News of this episode had reached the regional director, you know the one who hates international adoptions, she was stopping everything and starting an investigation on this case. The orphanage director was threatened with her job and Irena quit the job at the orphanage as a social worker. She will still be the math teacher. Because of that one call everything is now screwed up. Right now I don't know if I can ever see that foster mom again without wanting to -----. Natasha still thinks we will be able to adopt Katia it just will take some fighting for her. Adoption here now is a rocky road they are looking for anything to stop the process. Pray for us please.

Here we are again!

We arrived here in Ukraine on Tuesday July 7th. Our SDA appointment on the 8th went really well, we were in and out in about 10 minutes. We left Kiev on Thursday to go to Poltava. I remembered all the familiar landmarks. We left Kiev at 5:30 am so we could meet with the city inspector before 10:00 am. We meet her and she remembered us from before. Then we did some other paperwork and Irena and Vladimir went to the camp to get Katia. She walked into the restaurant and saw Natasha first and then noticed us. She came running over to me and thru her arms around me and started crying. Then she gave Bob a big hug. It was so good to see her. We had her released to Irena so she was able to stay with us in our apartment. Thursday night we sat and watched "Freaky Friday" together on the little DVD player we brought. It was fun to have her with us again.

New News

Kurt recived his mission call, he is going to the Vincia del Mar Chile Mission on Oct. 7, 2009.
Shemay had a precious little girl on July 2, she weighed 7 lbs. 15 ozs. and was 19 inches long. She will be named Ellie Gunther. I will post pictures of both events when I get a moment.

Kurt Playing at the Lacrosse Nationals

I went to Denver, Colorado in May to watch Kurt play in the national lacrosse tournament. It was great to watch him play. His defensive coach, Coach Long, told me that Kurt was excited that I was there, I was too. Kurt has enjoyed this experience very much. His head coach paid Bob and I a wonderful comment, he told us that we had done a fine job in raising Kurt and he had enjoyed having Kurt on the team.

Megan's competitions

Megan playing the harp at the recital. She has grown very much in her ability to play. She is beginning to sense the beauty of the harp. She played in a competition and recieved a superior plus a silver star. She had to move the levers on the harp and struggled a little bit with that but kept her cool and was still able to play beautifully. She played in sacrament meeting for the Primary Program, "Love One Another". Everyone became quiet when she was playing. I love listening to her play.

Tell Him

New Girl in Town

Megan with some of her friends on the mini team.

Megan has been performing with the mini team since March. They have been in 7 competitions. The have done very well taking first for both dances in all the competitions. It is quite an ordeal getting her ready for a competition, we have to have her hair in a curly ponytail and the makeup has to be done the same everytime. She even has to wear false eyelashes. She wears rhinestone earrings and barrettes. She has really enjoyed the experience, so much so that she tried out for next year. She made Junior team!

Stephen waiting for his turn to try the key in the box.

Does it work?

It doesn't. Stephen recieved two Keys of Success cards for his effots in learning at school. He doesn't know how to drive so the car would have had to sit until he learned anyway. Stephen is doing really well in school and now he is running on the track team. Sterling told him that if he read two chapters a week in a book he would bring him a different DVD to watch. Because of his reading his english has improved, so much that the kids at school have noticed.

Troy and Lacrosse

Troy, number 52, plays on West Jordan Lacrosse Team. They did very well this year. They were able to go to the finals. They won there first game against Woods Cross but lost the second one to Skyview. They were hoping they would play in the State Championship Game. They are losing 15 seniors this year. As you can see from the picture Troy plays defense like his brother Kurt.

Nadiya's Award

Nadiya was chosen as Student of the Month for April. Bob and I were invited to a breakfast at the school. It was a surprize for Nadiya. The principal has taken a great interest in Nadiya. Nadiya has done very well in school with a GPA of 3.2 and her english is really good. She has made alot of friends.

I thought I would update you on Stephen's injury from the Team Ukraine game. We took him to the emergency room and they put him on crutches. A week later I took him to the doctor for a follow-up visit. This doctor explained better what happened. Apparently Stephen put so much force on his front thigh muscle that it tore the muscle away from his pelvis pulling bone with it. He has to not run or jump for a week then Mar 15 the doctor will take an x-ray to see if it is healing properly. He won't be able to play contact sports until April 1. So that pretty much does it for him playing soccer for West Jordan. He was pretty upset but I told him if he did what the doctor said he would heal properly and be able to play next year. I asked the lacrosse coach of Troy's team if he could come and help be a manager, and he said that would be fine. Maybe that will help ease the pain of not being able to play. He's a good kid and is obeying the doctor's orders. It helps when his friends come and get him to hang out with them. He has made some great friends at the school.

Kurt has been chosen to play on the Westminster College Lacrosse Team. We are so proud of him. In a couple of weeks he will be flying to Georgia and Tennessee, to play with the team. Stephen has been wrestling with West Jordan and took 5th place in the varsity Region 3 finals. During his second to last match he broke his finger, but he still had one more match, he wrestled anyway and won. He did very well, now he is trying to decide if he wants to play soccer or lacrosse. Nadiya and Stephen are doing very well in school. Nadiya got a 3.0 and Stephen got a 3.2 this last term. We are very proud of them. Their English is pretty impressive, for only being here for 6 months. They are such a joy to have in our family. Troy is now conditioning for lacrosse for the West Jordan team. Megan is in the Mini Dance Company at the studio where she dances. She is preparing for competitions in March. Bob and I get to be grandparents 3 new times this year. Aleisha's baby is due Feb. 20th, Shemay's baby is due July and Kristen's is due in August. That will make 9 grandchildren. We are so blessed.

We arrived back in America. We were so glad to be back, 5 weeks from your family is a long time. Let me add a few things that I wasn't able to tell you while we were in Ukraine. The reason that the KGB was after us was because Nadiya had told her parents where we were staying at. Her parents had called her on the cell phone that they had given her. She innocently told them where we were. I had her tell Natasha what she had done and she called the hotel desk to have them tell anyone that came looking for us that we had already checked out. The next day her drunken father(he couldn't even stand up) came looking for Nadiya. When they told them they didn't know where we were he went to the police and told them that there were Americans in Poltave forcing his daughter to go with them. So the police went to the orphanage, they told they that they didn't know where we were either, the also asked the father if he wanted Nadiya why he hadn't applied to get his parental rights back. So because of this we had to stay in our hotel room for three days until we left for Keiv.

Arrived safely at the airport.