February 27-March 3
The day of Viktor's arrival, Samantha, Tammy's niece, sweetly came by to help us straighten the house before we headed to the airport to wait for the flight from Cincinnati. We were so happy to see Viktor and Curtis coming down the escalator and ran to give them hugs. We took photos and introduced everyone to Viktor, even though we knew he probably couldn't remember names. After the airport greeting, everyone all went together to a steakhouse for dinner, where Dima, Sasha and Zhenya were coming from a soccer practice at the high school. Zhenya and Sasha were overjoyed to see Vitya. Zhenya gave him a big hug and shouted, Vitya!" Sasha kept hugging him saying, "Vitya! Vitya!!" After a nice dinner, we headed over to Ben and Jerry's ice cream store where Ginger's fiancé Eric met us. For those who don't know, this is something like Baskin Robbins and Viktor could hardly wait to get inside and choose his flavor. After this, we finally headed to our house for another little welcome party and cake and meeting Aunt Cyndy's family, Rebecca, Sarah, David, Chris and Ashley. Marmee and Papa had to give a call on the phone as Marmee has the shingles and has been very ill. Her voice brightened up when she talked to Viktor and told him she was so glad he was finally in Alabama. Viktor seemed very happy to meet everyone.
The next day after Viktor did a walk through of each room in our home as he stopped and examined all the paintings on the walls, saying things like "I like this perception, this depth." He even noticed small details such as silk flowers, and the plastic fruit on baskets in the kitchen. We've never had a young person be so observant of the things in our home in this way. The other kids didn't even glance at the pictures on the walls. We caught Zhenya examining a doorway spray that had silk flowers and fruit on it, but that was the only item of interest for him. Viktor stopped in front of a cabinet that holds Ginger's trophies, medals and other awards. Tammy said, "Ginger's" Viktor said, "ALL Ginger's?" Then she pointed out a few trophies that belonged to Brooke and Baylee, for dance and gymnastics, and then said, "All the rest are Ginger's." He stared at them for a few minutes and Tammy was wondering what was going through his mind. We know the Berdyansk sports teams had won trophies and first place awards. Yet, the boys have no personal trophies of their own like many American kids. She then took Viktor down the pathway outside to show him the lake. She said he smiled and looked around and then wanted to throw rocks in the water, so they did that for a few minutes. Then he looked around and waved his arms and said, "Mama, it's beautiful!"
After this, we had to do medicals for participation in sports, and getting one of Viktor's shots. We took him to an Italian restaurant near our home, one of our favorites with authentic Italian food, Cafe Tretuno. One reason we took him there was to show him a huge mural that our friend, Bruce, had painted on their dining room wall, a countryside scene of Italy. Being an artist, we knew he might appreciate seeing this. He did enjoy it and also really enjoyed his calzone. Later that night, we created something sort of Ukrainian, kielbasa and fried potatoes, at home, and then the boys had a soccer game. It just happened to be the first game they were approved to actually play. Up until then, they had just been practicing with the team. They were very excited Viktor was there to see them. It happened to be a cold day in Alabama, so we were wearing coats and sipping on hot chocolate as we cheered for the boys. Sasha was a star player, and Zhenya showed some good ability as well as being one of the fastest runners. After the game, we took Viktor shopping for some clothes and shoes. He gave all of his jeans away to his friends at the orphanage, only brought a couple of shirts and didn't even bring a belt with him! We had several things to buy. Fortunately, we had perfect timing and the store was having a huge clearance sale.
Then the next day, it was time to tour the school. Dima took him to lunch at Dairy Queen and then took him for his first Starbucks trip which he really enjoyed. Then it was time to register at the High School. We could tell he was a little nervous as we were walking in, but he was all smiles. The school asked a senior student from Russia to take us our tour, and Dima also helped translate because he was at this school for his 9th grade year. Sat. was spent fishing on our lake all day. Viktor enjoyed this so much we had to pull him away from it, because we had another welcome party to attend with the Thompsons and some other kids who had been adopted. We all met at Dairy Queen to have an ice cream cake for the boys that said "Welcome to America", and then everyone went ice skating. It was Viktor's first time to 
ice skate and he was determined to give it his best shot. Sun, the boys attended a church that has a Bible study for teenagers with a Russian translation, and after this, we attended our own church. Sun. afternoon was a soccer game and basketball in the park, fried chicken and biscuits for supper. We felt we had to introduce Viktor early on to some Southern food. :) Mon. was Viktor's first day of school and it went well. He came home with positive comments about the school and several Teachers, but was requesting however, to be placed in the 11th grade, instead of the 10th. The school chose the 10th for him to put him with his brothers, because they thought it would help him. But there is an 11th grade exchange student from Russia, (as well as a Russian 12th grader) who could help him, so we've put in the request to be moved. After supper, Dima took the boys to the Y to swim and play basketball.
In between all of this, Viktor is eating bananas like they are going out of style! Fortunately for us, they are the cheapest fruit in the market. While he's not a meat eater like his brothers, Viktor often visits the fruit basket on the kitchen table. He walks around with an apple, pear, plum, peach or banana in his hands all the time nibbling and munching. It's obvious he was a bit deprived of fruit at the orphanage. The other boys empty the fruit basket often, but Viktor seems to enjoy it even more than they do.
It has been a very full week so far. Things are going good and we're just all trying to get the routine and rules established. We're smiling, a little tired, but very, very thankful God has brought us all together.
February 23-February 26:
After waiting three weeks for Viktor to get his passport and police clearance and then book my flight, I was able to return to Kiev to complete his process. Misha brought Viktor to Kiev on the train early Sunday morning and they went to church with Yulia and then back to the Webber’s home while they waited on my flight to arrive. My flight arrived on schedule about 3:00pm Kiev time and I was able to easily get through the passport line and out to the city. I called Karen and they arrived after about five minutes. It was good to see Viktor, Misha and Karen. We walked to the van and headed to the apartment. After we got settled into the apartment, Karen left to go back to the Webber’s and Viktor, Misha and I went to get some pizza before Misha had to take the Metro to the train station. Viktor and I then went back to the apartment for some much needed rest.
Everything went well in Kiev with medicals and the Embassy. Around 2:30pm on Tuesday, we were able to obtain Viktor’s Visa! We then went back to the Emmanuel office and checked email and updated this blog.
January 30-February 2:We had one of the longest and most stressful days of our life on Wednesday, January 30. Misha and I spent all morning and early afternoon traveling to and waiting in Zaporozhe for the boy’s passports. When they finally were given to us, we had to rush to the bus station and travel to Tokmak. We thought that it would be impossible for us to get Zhenya’s remaining paperwork done and get to Melitopol before our train left the station. What we thought to be impossible was not impossible to God! Miraculously, we were able to make it to the station about ten minutes before the train arrived at the station. It was such a relief for all four of us to be able to board the train and find our cabin! We finally were 
able to breathe a sigh of relief as we waved goodbye to Don, Misha, Inna and Dima.
Everything went well in Kiev with medicals and the Embassy with the help of Valery and Karen. Around lunchtime on Friday, we were able to obtain the boys’ Visas! We went to bed early in preparation for our early morning flight. The taxi to the airport and the trip home went without a hitch. It was fun to see the boys on the plane and they seemed to enjoy the view from the plane and 
glancing out the windows from time to time. We had no problem with immigration in Cincinnati and were even blessed that we were able to get on an earlier flight than we expected. We knew the time change in flight might affect some of the people wanting to be at the airport to welcome the boys. Still, we were overjoyed to see the family members who were able to make it the Birmingham airport early Saturday evening.
Ginger, Dima, Ella, Brooke, Baylee, Sabrina, (a neighbor), and cousins Samantha and Rebecca were all waiting with big smiles as we descended the escalator at the airport. We were so happy to see their faces and get hugs from everyone. We did the introductions, took a few photos and were on our way. We went straight back to our house, since the kids had an ice cream cake that said, "Welcome to America" written on it waiting for the boys, and Marmee and Papa, (Grandparents) would be meeting us there, as well as more cousins, David, Sarah, Chris and his wife, Ashley, Aunt Cyndy, and Uncle Vic. We all had a wonderful time eating ice cream cake and sitting around the kitchen table together, playing pool, listening to Ginger and Rebecca play the guitar and sing, and taking photos with the boys. It was a great welcome and it was a relief to be home after a very long, eventful process and trip.
The next day was Sunday, so after some much needed sleep, we all got up and went to church. This service was the boys' first time to ever attend church, so it was very special for us. They seemed to enjoy the music, but of course, we realized they couldn't understand the message. We were touched so many church members made a special effort to come up to the boys after the service and introduce themselves and welcome them. After church, we headed to Habaneros, a brightly decorated, festive Mexican restaurant in Hoover, to celebrate the boys' arrival. We had a very long table to seat our family of 10, plus some of Aunt Cyndy's 
family, 7 people, plus one of Dima's good friends from work. We all had a good time laughing and talking and watching the boys experience their first Mexican meal. They were happy enough, but didn't seem to care for the Spanish soup Dima ordered for them. They tried to be courteous and eat as much as they could. Dima loves it and asked them "En ravitza??" "Do you like it?" He wanted to say, "Why don't you like it?" because this is Dima's favorite soup and he was surprised that they didn't love it. It was their first experience with sliced avocado, so they weren't too sure about that bright, green stuff in their soup!
After lunch, the boys went with Dima and his friend to the park to play soccer. Then later that night, we were supposed to all go to Karen and Alan Thompson's (another adoptive family) house to watch the Super Bowl. However, Tammy fell asleep and we had to admit we were all pretty tired. Cousins, Rebecca, Sarah, and David came over and watched the Super Bowl, played pool, ping pong and ate pizza with Curtis and the kids, while Tammy still did not ever wake up from her sleep. As soon as the Super Bowl was over, Tammy woke up and asked if we were still going to the Thompsons. We all laughed and told her the game was over.
The next day, Dima went with us to take the boys to tour our local Y, and get their membership photo passes, and then we went for their sports Medicals. This took a long time because the doctor's office was full. The boys were scheduled to practice soccer, so after the doctor, Curtis and Dima had to rush with them to Hibbett’s Sporting Goods to get some soccer gear. It was nice for them to get to play soccer after not playing for months in Ukraine due to the cold weather. The next day we had appointment to register the boys at Pelham high school. They also took a tour of the school, met some other Russian speaking students, the Principal, two ESL teachers, and coaches. That night, Ginger and Samantha came by and along with Ella, and took the boys to our largest mall, The Galleria, to get some shirts and jeans. The boys were very anxious to start school, so we were glad that they were able to start the next day. We were surprised we didn't even have to wake them up that morning, and actually heard them stirring around and taking their showers by 5:30 am! They were excited to be going to an American school. They were ready and standing outside at the end of our driveway with Brooke and Ella, waiting for the bus by 6:40 am. The bus arrives @ 6:45 and within minutes; the four kids were on their way.
We've been in a routine since then of school, soccer practice, supper, and then either going to the park for soccer, or to the Y to play basketball, swim, get in the Jacuzzi, or visiting the fitness, work out stations. These boys are very ACTIVE and energetic. They aren't used to being still. Whew! We have to break way from them at times and let Dima take over, just to have some rest. They are in high gear all the time. It's good of course, because it challenges us to be more active, but other times, we're pooped.
We knew Curtis would have to return to Ukraine soon to get Viktor and he would be gone for about a week. So, we tried to get in some fun activities with the boys. We've had a couple of ice skating times, a trip to the Birmingham Zoo, playing games at the bowling alley, and driving up to the top of Bluff Park to see the view and eat hamburgers and hotdogs. We also got to meet some other kids who have been adopted from Ukraine at a birthday party for Alexa Thompson. Ella was actually the only one invited as it was a Girls only party, but the boys went with us to take Ella to Alexa's house and to meet the Thompson family. It was quite a sight watching the boys as pretty girls who spoke Russian kept arriving and getting out of their cars, one after the other. From the smiles on the boys' faces, we knew they must be thinking Birmingham was OK! :)
One very neat thing that happened while at the Thompson's was meeting Christina, a friend of both Vitya and Sasha's from Ukraine. Christina was adopted from Zaporozhe, the same region as Vitya and Sasha, and knew the boys from summer camp. She was so excited to see Sasha and we could tell he was equally happy and amazed to find her here in Birmingham. It was a nice surprise for both of them.
We have all enjoyed the first few weeks with the boys. It has been busy and eventful and everyone is trying to adjust. We're sure that after Viktor arrives, it will be even better to have everyone together.
January 29: I want to thank everyone for the many supportive, personal emails we've received since we traveled to Ukraine in December. I realize not everyone feels comfortable posting comments on this blog, for others to read. So, whether private or public, your encouragement is appreciated. The emails that have contained scripture are most appreciated and we've really taken those to heart. Trust us, we'll save each one and will put in a special place for these boys to someday read.We'll be able to pick up International passports in Zaporizhzhia, go back to Takmak for the military release, go to Molochansk to sign Zhenya's papers, and leave tomorrow for Kiev. Thank you to everyone for your prayers. We know you're all in your daily grind at home, and yet you've taken time to support us in our process. At this point, we're ready to go home. Our oldest daughter, Ginger, (almost 22, soon to be married) is about to jump out of her skin with excitement because she found her dream condo in downtown Bham, (a loft), just like she wanted. They accepted her offer today and we can't be there to celebrate with her. Our neice, Rebecca is a basketball superstar right now at her high school, written up in the home town paper. We hate we missed her big game. She was the leading player even after surgery to both ankles and a long rehab. We miss everyone and are looking forward to getting back home with these boys! ~We may not have a chance to post more before we get back home due to travel and tight schedules in Kiev.
January 27: I was feeling much better when we woke up about 8:00am on Sunday morning so we decided that we would go to church even though we weren’t sure how much we would be able to understand. Although our taxi was a little late, we were still able to get to the service before it started. We were able to meet Ernie, Don’s friend who heads up the ministry here in Berdyansk before praise and worship began. We were glad that they repeated some of the songs that we had sung in December so that we were able to partially join in singing “Esoos” and other familiar words as they appeared on the overhead projector. When it came time for the sermon, we were surprised to see Ernie get up and start talking in English. As it turned out, he was preaching and Sergey was interpreting so we were probably able to understand the message better than the rest of congregation. He spoke on John 6 and in general how we should daily try to be more like Jesus. He challenged everyone to read the whole book of John and write down every attribute that we could find of Jesus and then pick our top 5 to work on in our own lives. He also used several good illustrations to get his point across. When the sermon was over, we participated in the offering march where everyone takes their offering to the front of the church before having a time for testimonies. One older man went to the front of the church and spoke for a few minutes and then broke into singing several hymns as the congregation joined in. He had a beautiful tenor operatic voice and obviously loved God with all of his heart. Another very short little woman came to the front and shared a poem about God. When the service ended, this little woman came up to Tamara and gave her a beautiful handmade placemat out of a bag she was carrying. It touched our hearts that one so obviously poor in a monetary sense was so obedient to give what she had to strangers like us. We looked in the church bookstore before catching a taxi back to the hotel where we ate lunch and then went back to our room to rest since the boys had an activity that they wanted to participate in all day.
After about a two hour nap, I went to the store to get us some groceries and then got on the Internet to upload several days of blogs and check email. When I got back to the room, Ginger called and talked to us for quite a while about a condo that she is very interested in before we finally went back to bed for the night.
January 26: I slept until after 9:00am and only got up then because I knew that the hot water would be turned off at 10:00am and I better get my shower so that we could go and eat breakfast. After breakfast, we called Viktor to see what they were doing today. They told us that they wanted us to come and see them and play some ping pong and indoor football. We told them that we would be there in a few minutes and they seemed very happy. When we walked into the orphanage, Tamara decided to hide behind a wall in the hallway so they wouldn’t see her. She startled them as she jumped out when I walked them by where she was hiding. Sasha pulled out a yellow handmade bracelet for Tammy and tied it on her wrist. Viktor went to get the key to the ping pong room and we talked with Sasha. We enjoyed playing together for over an hour and then decided to go to the computer room. We checked our email and then showed them our blog and website. Viktor was very interested in this and to our surprise started reading what we had written out loud to Tamara. We didn’t realize he could read English so well. Sasha was interested for a few minutes but then decided that he wanted to play “Need for Speed” on another computer. He asked me to come over and watch him while Viktor continue to read different pages. Sasha kept asking me to try the game and I finally agreed (although I’m not very good). I played on one computer and he played on the on next to me. If I paused, he would smile at me and say, “Drive!” He seemed to enjoy that fact that we were playing together.
The lunch bell rang and the boys told us that they were going to eat. After only 10 minutes, they were back with a juice box and some candy for us. Viktor left and then came back to ask us if we could eat lunch with Galina in the kitchen. We agreed and they escorted us to a small dining room next to the kitchen. There was quite a spread including chicken soup, cabbage salad, fish, shepherd’s pie, bread, kielbasa, turkey, cheese, bread, poppy seed rolls with jam, and cookies. We enjoyed sitting and talking with Galina with the boys’ help. After we got back from eating lunch, Sasha played FIFA 2008 and I watched him play several games as Liverpool before it was time for them to play their indoor football game at 4:00pm. We watched and cheered for about 2 hours as they played a very fast paced game of 4 on 4 in the gymnasium. Both boys played very well and enjoyed having their parents affirm them even though the games were just for recreation. We were touched by the smiles on their faces when they heard us cheer for them when they made a good play. When the games were finished, we all went to get something to drink in the cafeteria and Viktor showed his paintings to Tamara. It was getting late, so Viktor asked if he could call a taxi for us. When this arrived, we all embraced as they escorted us to the back door of cafeteria so that we wouldn't have to walk all the way around the building in the cold. When we got back to our room I called Viktor to let him know that we were safe (since he had asked that I do so). We’re so impressed with the good manners these boys have, and they’re so considerate of us. I then tried to catch up on the blog for the last three days and Tamara went on to bed. It had been a very fun and happy day.
January 25: It was very hard for me to wake up the next morning because I had not been able to go to sleep as early as I had needed to the night before due to the kids calling and wanting to talk to us. I made my way to eat breakfast and then joined Misha in the taxi. We drove to the orphanage where we picked up Zhenya and gave Sasha his birth certificate and passport so that he could go and make a notarized copy of it while we were gone. Once again, our drive made very good time and we made it to the Tax Office by about 9:30am. There wasn’t a very long line so Misha was able to quickly speak to a lady about our situation. After showing her the Court Decree, passport and other documents that she needed, she quickly made the two corrections in the database. She was very apologetic and more that willing to promise that she would call the office in Zaporozhe and tell them that the changes had been made. She also gave Misha their phone number so that we could follow up with them. We then to the taxi to Molochansk and began looking for the doctor. When we couldn’t find her at first, the Director’s secretary arrived and was able to call someone to bring the form to the office. We compared the form to Viktor’s form and found that it looked the same. After saying goodbye to Zhenya, we headed back to Berdyansk.
On our way back, Sasha called to tell us that he had completed his mission and that he and Viktor would like for us to go with them to the bank when we got back to Berdyansk. Misha and I agreed to go even though we were both ready for a nap. When the bank reopened at 2:00pm, we all walked the several blocks to the bank where the boys had their accounts. Viktor had already withdrawn the rest of his money and had most of it changed into dollars but since Sasha was only 16, he needed me to sign with him to withdraw his money and close his account. The bank manager assisted us with the process and it only took about 20 minutes. I asked the boys if they wanted to get some lunch before they went back to the orphanage and they said that they did so we decided to eat at the Cossack Cafeteria. We all enjoyed our meals and talking with Misha’s help and the boys asked me to come and play ping pong with them for a while. We walked back to the hotel and I went to the room to check on Tamara. She wasn’t feeling well so she told me to just go and be with the boys for a while and she would rest. I was starting to feel like I was getting the same cold that Tamara had been struggling with for days but I wanted to have some fun with the boys (especially since Sasha had told me that he was going to beat me).
When I got to the orphanage, Sasha showed me a book of English phrases that he had bought and I explained several that he had questions about to both of the boys. Galina came down the hall toward us and said she wanted to show me some of the items that they had received from the shipment that we had sent. I asked Viktor to take pictures because I had not brought my camera with me. We took pictures of the soccer goal, pillows, blankets, and towels. She also told me that all the clothes had been distributed to the children. After this, it was time for the ping pong challenge. First, I played Viktor a few games which ended in a 2-2 tie while Sasha played against a friend of theirs (Andre). I thought that I was ready for Sasha but I guess I must be out of practice since he beat me three straight games with each one having a larger margin of victory. I congratulated him on beating me soundly and then quickly decided that we should play doubles the rest of the time with him as my partner. It was dark when I told them that I needed to go back to the hotel. Viktor called a taxi for me and they walked with me to leave when it arrived. When I got back to the room, Tamara and I talked and I rested for a while before we went downstairs for dinner. After dinner, I went to be and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I went to sleep.
February 27-March 3
Then the next day, it was time to tour the school. Dima took him to lunch at Dairy Queen and then took him for his first Starbucks trip which he really enjoyed. Then it was time to register at the High School. We could tell he was a little nervous as we were walking in, but he was all smiles. The school asked a senior student from Russia to take us our tour, and Dima also helped translate because he was at this school for his 9th grade year. Sat. was spent fishing on our lake all day. Viktor enjoyed this so much we had to pull him away from it, because we had another welcome party to attend with the Thompsons and some other kids who had been adopted. We all met at Dairy Queen to have an ice cream cake for the boys that said "Welcome to America", and then everyone went ice skating. It was Viktor's first time to 
ice skate and he was determined to give it his best shot. Sun, the boys attended a church that has a Bible study for teenagers with a Russian translation, and after this, we attended our own church. Sun. afternoon was a soccer game and basketball in the park, fried chicken and biscuits for supper. We felt we had to introduce Viktor early on to some Southern food. :) Mon. was Viktor's first day of school and it went well. He came home with positive comments about the school and several Teachers, but was requesting however, to be placed in the 11th grade, instead of the 10th. The school chose the 10th for him to put him with his brothers, because they thought it would help him. But there is an 11th grade exchange student from Russia, (as well as a Russian 12th grader) who could help him, so we've put in the request to be moved. After supper, Dima took the boys to the Y to swim and play basketball.
