2011 At A Glance

January—We were awaiting National fingerprint appointment, we were in the middle of the paper chase with the Secretary of State.  We received  a ray of light when we received drawings and letters from the boys saying thank you for the gifts and letters they received and that they looked forward to coming to America.

February—We had a lot more paperwork and then finally the documents were submitted to the SDA office in Ukraine.

March—Our church threw an adoption shower.  It was such a blessing and encouragement in such a dark time where we were weary of paperwork and setbacks and we were discouraged by the long wait.  The end of the month we traveled to Ukraine and met the boys for the 1^st time on March 31^st.

Maxim said "no"

Roman also said "no"

April—They both said "No." On April 4^th we learned the boys would not become our sons.  Yet on April 10^th we finally met our precious son, “Sergey.”  April was both the best and worst month of the whole year.

May—“Sergey” said “yes,” we said “yes,” the judge said, “yes” and we brought our son home forever on May  14^th. 

June—We enjoyed our sweet summertime—lots of swimming and outdoor activities and lots of family bonding time.

July—We traveled to Tim’s family for the holiday in MD and we enjoyed some hiking, fireworks and more swimming.

August—We took our annual trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains and we all had an absolute blast hiking and relaxing at the cabin.

September—This was perhaps the hardest month to date.  It was stressful on us all namely because of the adjustment to American school. 

October—The Men and Boy’s Retreat was our saving grace.  Brandon got to get away from the pressures of school and hang out with no one but Papa and the other men from our church.

November—We enjoyed packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  I was able to conduct  my first heart-to-heart “interview” with Brandon since his English was good enough to both understand my questions and also answer my questions about his life in Ukraine.  He also experienced his first American Thanksgiving.  He’s not a fan of fried turkey, but he loved the classic, baked turkey.

December—Christmas decorating, Christmas program, Christmas presents, Christmas trip to NY….What can I say? We loved every minute of December!