Pictures....

Here are some pictures that we took...

Another child that asked me to advocate for him and find a family.

Denis, who is 13 years of age really wants a family who would adopt him and love him! He does not have any brothers or sisters, his father died and his mother does not visit. He is very kind and loves to help with everything. He loves small children and they love him. Please email me if you are interested in adopting him.
Boys and our baby playing around after court today....by the courthouse.

Our daughter playing with the cat at Father's House...

Isabella with Aleks goofing around as usual!

Aleks with his friends in our room, looking though their New Year's gifts.

Our dear son Dmitri...I love his smile!

Aleks playing with his baby sister!!

Playing again....she absolutely adores her brothers~!

We are finally a family!!!!

TODAY,
DECEMBER 31, 2008 at 9AM, we added two more children to our family!

Please welcome, Aleks Viktor Grigorov and Dmitri Markus Grigorov!!!


(This is a picture of us after the hearing by the courthouse)


We had court today...it went by fast..maybe about 5 minutes total. We all came in and set down in the office where the judge was. She asked us to state our names, where we worked and lived. Then she asked why we wanted to adopt these particular kids and how we knew them. My husband told her that the reason we want to adopt these kids was because they are OUR kids..they were just out of place and now we found each other! The judge was laughing. I added that we hosted them and wanted them to be a part of our family and they had the same desire. Then she told Dmitri to come stand by her and asked him how old he was and what were his grades in school. She also asked him when was the last time that his birth parents visited..Dmitri answered that he did not remember. She asked him if he was sure that he wanted to go to America. He said that he wanted to go and live with us. Then she called Aleks and asked him the same questions. He also said that he wanted to live with us and be a part of our family. Then she asked the representative from the orphanage if she agreed to this adoption, she said yes. Then the judge jokingly asked the boys what would their reaction be if she did not let them go....they both said that they would not leave her until she let them go... Everyone laughed... So she said that her decision was to let them be adopted by us!!! We are so excited that God is with us throughout this process and that we were able to have court before this year is over!!! We start the 10 day waiting period countdown tomorrow...right before the holidays...what a great God we serve...He is never late!

Court date tomorrow...hopefully... :)

We got news today from our attorney that she picked up the paper that we needed from SDA today in the morning and went to set up a court date. Our court is set for 9AM tomorrow, December 31, 2008!!! I wrote (hopefully) in the heading, because we are still in Ukraine and until something actually happens, something can change, but we are praying and know one thing for sure, that God is in control! The good thing is that if we do have court tomorrow, and if it happens as planned the countdown for the 10 days after court will start the next day. That will mean that after the holidays, we will start paperwork for new birth certificates, passports, medical exams, and visas....the process if moving again!
We had tickets back to US on the 8th of January, but will need to change them...
Blessings to all and thanks for praying!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Finally!

Our attorney finally picked-up the paper that was needed for the SDA on Friday... Although it was not that simple....there were many people involved; our attorney, director of Fathers House and assistant to the director...
So they were all there because who ever was to sign the paper, thought that he had more important things to do. So after meeting with everyone, he finally signed the paper we needed. Our attorney took it to SDA that same day and they wrote out the paper that we needed from them. Our attorney told us that it will be signed and she will pick it up on Monday at 9AM from SDA. Then she told us that we should have court either Monday afternoon or Tuesday. So this is the plan...hopefully it will all happen this way with no delays... This is Ukraine though, and everything is unpredictable here...
Thanks for all you prayers, we definately feel your support and God's love with us!
Today we are going with another American family to see another concert performed by the kids from this orphanage...
It is still snowing here...and beautiful white Christmas!

A little update...

Earlier in the week, we had another visit with the boys' grandma and mother J. It went well... After the visit we went ot McDonalds and ate there... The kids love McDonalds!
Yesterday I took Aleks to the dentist and after that we met with another couple from America who is here to adopt. We spent great time together...
Today we are going to see a Christmas program that we were invited to by the kids at the orphanage here.. It will be from their school and many of the children are involved.
As to our adoption process... the meeting was finaly done on Wed., but we are only supposed to get the paper that we need from them, today.. So basically the boys are no longer under foster care.. we just need the final paper to prove this to SDA. Then our attorney will take the paper to SDA today...so at lease finally the process started to move again...slowly...but at least its moving...
Even though we are not home, are really miss our family and our girls, we will still make the best of the holidays here... We have some events planned with our frinds and also some fun stuff for the kids... It is beautiful here...with A LOT of snow all around us! It's a very white Christmas!
Merry Christmas to everyone, we love you and want to wish all the blessings to you from our Heavenly Father above...

Another visit with the boys grandma...

Today we had a very interesting visit with the boys' grandma again. We bought some bread and fruits, like g. Luda requested and Aleks, Dima and I went to meet with her at her home. A day before we went, g. Luda called me and told me that she already told the boys' mom J that they were going to be adopted. She also showed her pictures of our family. I was not sure how the whole meeting would go today because mom J lives with the grandma in the same apartment. Well usually mom J is not at home for days and sometimes months, drinking.
When we came in the house and walked into g. Luda's room and set down, mom J came in. It was a very interesting meeting, but she was calm and not drunk (which is really rare we were told). So g. Luda was asking me questions about our house and what it looks like and then asked Aleks to draw a layout of the house and asked what trees where growing in our yard and what flowes we had. Mom J was just listening and smiled from time to time. The interesting thing was that Aleks, even in front of mom J, still called me mom...
Then g. Luda told mom J to make us tea...so she went. While mom J was making tea, g. Luda asked me to help her with some personal stuff for her and boys....so we will try to help her during the time that we have just waiting.. Aleks, Dima, myself and mom J went into the kitchen to have tea with some crackers. To my surprise, it was not unconfotable. The boys also felt very comfortable. After that we were off, g. Luda still wanted us to stay, but we had plans for the evening and had to go. While the boys went to say goddbye to their grandmother, I was standing in the hallway with mom J. I told her that she is welcome to write letters to the boys and that we will still stop by to visit them before we go. She just smiled.
I am glad that God made this possible...I have never in my wildest dreams would think that I would meet the bio mother of the children that we were adopting. This was a wonderful meeting and we will continue to pray for her because she is very sick and needs Jesus in her life.

Some more complications...still waiting

Well, we are still waiting...
The SDA will not give us an agreement to the adoption until the foster parent relinquishes her care..(if that makes sense). Basically the SDA is giving us the run around. There is no law to this, since the kids will automatically be released from foster care after court (after we adopt them). But the word out is that the SDA is trying to send international families home without kids...so they are making stuff up and requiring documents that are not even requiered by Ukrainian law. This is done because the SDA is trying to prove that the "quota" system for 2008 worked and that statistically more Ukrainian citizens are adopting kids and less international families. These statistics are not correct, so they are trying to keep international adoption to minimal. This is pretty much where we are at...but we are not giving up and we will fight for our children..God is on our side, what can man do? They are our kids!
So we are waiting for some kind of gathering hopefully on Tuesday to take the foster parent rights away and then we will hopefully get the paper that we need for SDA...
This is Ukraine, so all this is expected...they like to change their laws everyday and request documents that dont exist. We are kind of used to this from our previous adoption.
So we keep praying together with the boys for God to lead us through this together. We will spend holidays here in Ukraine and spend them with our boys.
Other then the document stuff, we are having a great time here...we are getting to know more and more of the children here and many of them ask us to advocate for them and find a family. So I have more pictures of kids and info., if anyone is interested please let me know.. These kids need families! There are also kids here that are 16 or older and would love the opportunity to study abroad. If anyone is insterested in having a child live in your home and study, that could be set up as well.
In particular, I had a wonderful opporunity to communicate and spend time with a girl named, Anna. She is already 19 years of age and has been here at the orphanage since she was 13. Her mother died, then her father died and then her older sister died...she has no one and for that reason the orphanage still provides a living space for her. She is a shy but very smart and bright girl who absolutely loves horses! I dont think I have ever seen anyone love horses as much as she does and dream about training horses and being a jockey. She currently attends a university here in Kiev to become a horse trainer... She spends most of her free time with horses and this girl knows everything about them! If someone has a desire in their heart to help this girl in someone, maybe invite her to learn English in USA and do work around horses....just email me.
Thanks to all who pray for us, please continue and please pray for these kids that are left here and desire a family so much...some of them are older then 16, but they are still kids and want a family...if not through adoption, maybe just a family that would be in their life and they could visit...so that they could have a place to call home...

Desire for a family....

This picture is of two kids that live here in the orphanage. They asked me to advocate for them and to find them a family. They came to this orphanage 3 years ago, when their mother died. The father is an alchoholic and does not visit the kids. They very much want a family!
Olga is turning 16 years old tomorrow. Olga is very friendly and outgoing, she makes friends easily. She loves to laugh and does not get mad easily. She listens and respects adults and is obedient. She likes to sing and attends music school to take vocal lessons.
Vlad is 14 years old and is very calm and kind child. He loves his sister very much and wants to be in a family together with her. He is active in sports and loves to play soccer. He gets good grades in school.
Email me if you would like more information about these kids or would like to concider adopting them.

Just waiting.....

I havent been posting for couple of days just because nothing really new happened with our paperwork. Our attorney submitted everything to SDA and now we are waiting for them to issue us a final paper so that court can be scheduled. We heard that we will receive that paper from the SDA on Monday...so we pray that this will happen and that we will get a court date fast.

On Sunday Aleks, Dima and I went to a church where mostly Americans gather here in Kiev and met some new people. My husband stayed at the orphanage with our daughter. After church, we went with some firends to downtown Kiev and walked around the "globus" mall then had some yummy pizza there and ice cream.
Another day I took Dima to an orthodontist in Kiev for consultation. He needs to get braces, and it is MUCH cheaper here. Then another day we went to a denstist and had cleanings done for the boys and my husband. Aleks needs more dental work done and its much cheeper here, so we scheduled more appointments for him to have everything completed before we go home.

One evening, my husband and I went out with some friends to a huge mall called, "karavan" here in Kiev where there are many stores and even an ice rink. While we were out, the boys watched their little sister in the orphanage. They did a great job playing with her and keeping her busy. When we came home she was already sleeping!

Everyone is doing great! The boys are so happy that we are with them and they live with us in our apartment here in the orphanage. It was snowing here again and it was beautiful! We were playing with the boys outside and took some pictures. We have met more wonderful people here and became good friends.

Yesterday we had dinner with another family that we met here, that also adopted kids. It was nice to spend time together and to meet them and their children.

Tomorrow, Olga, a girl from the orphanage will be celebrating her 16th birthday and invited us to her party. So we will be going there and then we were also invited by a family who works here at the orphange to have some "shishkabobs".

Please keep praying for us to get the paperwork done, so that we can return home soon...

Visiting grandma Luda

This is a picture of us by the boys' orphanage.

Yesterday we set out with the boys to visit their grandma. We drove in a taxi all the way to the other side of Kiev called Obolon. We stopped by a local market and bought red carnations and whole bunch of fruits for the grandma. She lives in a tall building on the 4th floor. She lays in her bed in a very small room and she can not walk. She hugged all of us as we came in.

When we set down, she was emotional and told us how happy she was that the boys will have a family now. She told us everything from the begining of her life, about her only daughter (boy's bio mom), and how she took care of the boys when they were little and then how they ended up at the orphanage. It was very interesting to hear all this information. She is a very smart and intelegent lady, who has compeleted her masters degree with high honors from Moscow University. She also told us about the boys' extended family and that they were all very educated people. She was happy to tell us the whole story and we found out some very interesting information. She also showed us pictures of when she was little and of the boys' mom and also when the boys were little...(they were SO CUTE!!) We spend probably around 2 hours with her and then we left. She asked us to come by one more time to say goodbye before we go home with the boys. I wanted to take pictures of the boys and their grandma, but she was really against that and said that she wants the boys to remember her when she was younger and not ill. So she gave them pictures of her, when she was younger.

Yesterday, our attorney gathered all paperwork and got all official signitures that were required and has turned in everything to SDA! Thank God! We are now waiting for an approval from them, which we will probably get next Thursday and then have court sometimes after that. So we will have some days next week, just to hang out, so we are thinking of things to do and places to go while we wait...

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Yesterday we left our daughter with two girls that live here in the orphanage and they wanted to babysit her while my husband and I just go out and walk around downtown Kiev and go shopping. So it was great that finally we could have an evening to just relax a little bit. The girls did such a great job babysitting our daughter! They were drawing with her, watching cartoons and playing games. We were gone for about 5 hours and she had so much fun that she didn't even cry!
Today, we took Aleks to a local eye clinic and had his eyes checked out. He was perscribed glasses and we bought him nice glasses that he could wear. We will pick them up tomorrow from the pharmacy.
Our attorney came to the orphanage today where we are staying, and told us that she was to get the last paper from the inspector signed today and will turn all the paperwork to SDA on Friday for final approval to the adoption. We should get that final paper back from SDA in 5 days, which would be next Wednesday. After that, our court date will be scheduled.
Today was the official, last day of school for the boys. The orphanage staff asked us when we wanted the boys to be out of school and we just said that they can stop immediately because we have some dentist appointments planned and other things we would like to do with them. So they will not return to the school again...maybe just once before we leave for home..to say goodbye to their friends and teachers.
Tomorrow we are going in the morning with the boys to meet their grandmother who is very ill and paralized in bed. She has always cared for the boys and loves them very much. She is happy that they will have a family who will love the boys and wants to meet us... We are really looking forward to meeting her too. We will stop by the store to buy her some flowers and groceries tomorrow and then will go to her apartment. I will write more about our visit with the grandmother, tomorrow.
Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us! We feel so at peace and know that God is taking care of each step that we take.

Complications

Our attorney called and told us that the SDA does not want to give the agreement to adoption for our boys. The inspector wrote the agreement to adoption and our attorney gathered all the paperowork to turn in to the SDA to get a final agreement from them and they said that because the kids are under an "opekun" care taker, they should not be available for adoption. Well our attorney was running around everywhere including the orphanage to get all necessary paperwork from couple of years ago, stating that the caretaker allows for the kids to be adopted and had no intention to adopt them. Right now, our attorney just left to SDA to turn in all the paperwork. She told us not to worry, because according to the law of Ukraine, these kids CAN be adopted. The SDA is being really against international adoptions, and they will make it harder and harder to adopt from Ukraine. We heard from other families that are here, that they are having problems too with the SDA approving adoptions. It's unfortunate considering how many children are in orphanages and streets here in Ukraine.
Please pray for this whole situation to resolve and so that the SDA will give us permission to adopt and not take their time in issuing paperwork.
We are just thankful to God for a wonderful attorney who knows what she is doing and knows all the laws of Ukraine and where they are written by memory....
Blessings

Visiting relatives in Kiev

The boys are getting along great with thir new sister! They absolutely adore her and she always asks to play with them.

It was fun visiting my aunt and unkle and their little boy whom they adopted about 6 months ago. We introduced them to our boys too.

The adoption process...

In the morning, our attorney picked us up and we all drove to the city inspector's office. Today, Dec. 1, 2008, a new law came in effect in regards to adoption and some paperwork has to be done differently. So one of the new regulations now is that the inspector needs to go with the family to the orphanage during their initial meeting and write an agreement to adoption upon talking with the kids and adoptive parents. So we came into the inspectors office and she was very nice. She was asking us why we wanted to adopt older kids and was talking a lot to our little daughter and giving her candy. We explained to her that we are already living at the orphanage and have constant contact with the boys, but since the new regulation, she still needed to go with us. So I called the boys on their cell phone and told them to go back to the orphanage from school, and that we will arrive there shortly... With the inspector, we all came to the orphanage to find that the boys were already waiting for us. We all set down and she officially asked the boys if they want to be adopted by us and how they know us. They ofcourse both said that they want to be adopted and then she wrote everything down on a piece of paper. After that, our attorney, inspector and orphanage director, and I all met in the office and had coffee while completing paperwork and placing a lot of stamps on it. The boys didnt go back to school and just stayed with us and then we all had lunch together.
Our attorney told us that she has all the paperwork she needs and will get the last piece from the court where the parents are revoked were revoked of their parental rights. She will turn all of this paperwork to SDA on Wednesday for them to write an approval for this adoption. This process takes 5 days. So our attorney will pick up the paperwork from SDA on Monday next week and will take it all to court to schedule a court date for us.
Tomorrow we are going to be spending time with my unkle and aunt that live in Kiev. They also adopted a 4 year old boy couple of months ago. We are looking forward to meeting him.
We really miss our kids at home. Our little daughter always talks about her older sisters and how much she loves them. She plays with the kids here at the orphanage that are her age. She was playing games with them and building puzzles.
Two of the girls from the orphanage, invited me to go to music school with them today. They had vocal lessons, so I went and enjoyed them singing. They are preparing for a concert later in December. (Yes, Lisa, Nastya was singing too. She has a great voice.)