God is Great

God is Great. When we heard about the travel required to adopt a child from Ukraine (4-6 weeks THERE) and the cost of over $50,000 for 2 children, we felt we were supposed to host these kids and only host. There was no way we could travel that long, let alone come up with that staggering amount of money. It seemed clear that adoption was not what Kevin and I should be doing...it just didn't make sense on paper. Sergei arrived and we instantly fell for him, we felt the Lord would lead us to his family and our job was to do everything we could do to find them. We wore ourselves out networking, talking to friends, talking to friends of friend's and anyone else who might have been his potential family. We had swim parties, BBQ's, zoo trips...you name it, we did it in hopes of finding a home for Sergei and Max. Everyday we fell more in love with this shy, freckled face teenage boy with stinky feet. I asked so many families if Sergei was theirs, did he belong in their family? I said this many time with tears in my eyes because I loved him so much! I heard the same reply many times, "Maybe he is yours".

Kevin and I prayed and then prayed some more and asked all of those around us to pray too! "Lord tell us what to do! I love this little boy but there is no way we can possibly adopt him and his brother". Kevin assured me I couldn't screw up God's will. We prayed and listened and ask the Lord to guide us and he did. Sergei met many families who wanted to adopt him, bittersweet. Overjoyed for Sergei and Max and heart-broken because we missed them already. When the orphans all went back to Ukraine after their 3 weeks stay, we told Sergei how much we loved him. He had been told already that we could not adopt him , we were in no position. We told him there was families who wanted to adopt him and Max, he said, "I choose you".Insert tissue box here. With tears (true confessions: snot) and hugs we said goodbye to Sergei and told him we would always be in his life.

After a few weeks, the potential family said something in their heart was not right and they would not be proceeding with the adoption. Kevin and I knew instantly it was because it was right for us. Our sons, Sergei and Max, were ours. With bursting hearts of joy the once unachievable obstacles that we faced suddenly seemed achievable! God is Great. We know with God, our friends and family, we can reach our financial goal and complete the travel to bring our family together.

GOOOOOOAL!!!!!

In America we call it soccer but in Ukraine they call it football. I always thought soccer was boring since a game could actually end in a tie but we had a blast at the Salt Lake Real game! The game was packed and we had our own little Ukraine right there in the lower bowl.Fourteen orphans and all the host families were there and we cheered so loud, clapped, hollered and even heckled the students who snuck into our section. I told them they would need to take an orphan home to keep the seats but settled on their Real scarf instead! Real must of heard our shouts and knew these kids needed one night where they could just be kids because they won the game 4-0! The fireworks were a nice touch at the end and it was a fun summer night in Utah with our sweet boy. GOOOOOOOAL!!!!!

Flu

I think when someone holds your hair back while you puke, they love you for real. The entire family caught the stomach flu and it taught us all we would make a pretty great family. "What is she talking about?!" you are probably asking yourself. I learned I can handle five sick kids and one very sick hubby. I learned teenage boys still love to be tucked in and babied when they feel crummy and that carpet cleaners are worth their weight in gold. The family was sick but Kevin and I hung in there. After everyone was beginning to recover, I was taken down...hard. I went to bed at noon and woke up at 7pm. I walked into my kitchen where everyone was laughing and eating dinner together. Sergei had made a beautiful traditional Ukrainian dinner and let the girls help him cook. We all took care of each other that week. The family that pukes together, stays together. (I am going to need that in vinyl)

Where is Max?

Maksym AKA: Max is only 5 years old and was not allowed to travel to the USA because of his young age. Max is a small boy with a big happy heart. Sergei definitely has been his brother's caretaker. Sergei helped so much with Suzy (4), Pearl(3) and Charlotte (1) he obviously had been taking care of others his whole life. We are so excited to get our family under one roof so these kids can be kids and be wild and crazy together! Max will fit right in and Sergei will get to be a big brother instead of a parent. Nicole Shon said it best..."You had me at Winner Time".

Please Eat!

I was trying to get Sergei to come out of his shell so I figured the best way to do that was to feed him and then feed him some more. I tried everything, McDonald's, spaghetti, bananas, MacN'Cheese, and every sugar cereal you could think of. My orphan would not eat. What kind of American Host Mom was I? What is more American than a few extra pounds?! I was begging Sergei, bribing him and flat out telling him had to eat something. I was worried he was going to go back to Ukraine skinnier than when he arrived!

I pulled out the big guns...my mom Suzan. By the time she got back from shopping at every European store in this state, my fridge doors would barely close. Sergei picked at a few things but just ask for the same old thing, Coca-Cola. I do have a small addiction myself to Diet Coke so it turned into our "special time". We would jump into the car and Sergei always placed a cold Diet Coke in my drink holder. See...I told you he was mine:)

He finally started eating when I was told he liked meat. I had been a vegetarian over the last ten years but if it was meat Sergei wanted, then meat it was. Our sweet neighbors cooked up some mean steaks and yes...I ate every last bite. Sergei had it right, steak and Coke rule.

Meeting Sergei

In July Kevin read an article in the Draper Journal about a group of Ukrainian orphans coming to Utah for a three week visit. They were looking for host families and I told Kevin if he wanted me to call we were going to have to adopt some Ukrainian orphans (I thought I was joking) - he said he still wanted me to call.

The day came to pick them up and I was sweating bullets because I thought I was getting two young brothers but when I arrived at the airport they told me I was getting a 13 year old boy! I don't know anything about 13 year old boys - all I have is baby girls. When Sergei got off the plane I was really nervous, so I just kept talking louder and more. Which made Sergei nervous which made him almost curl up into a fetal position. I am sure he was wondering why this American lady was screaming at him.

By the end of the first day I had stopped talking loudly and Sergei was opening up. He spoke no English but we were quickly developing a good system of charades. Kevin was learning Russian as fast as possible but I stuck with drawing pictures in the air.

The first full day Sergei was here my mom took him shopping for some clothes. Everything he picked out had a cartoon graphic on it. The next time he saw his group of friends from the orphanage many of them also had new clothes- but none had cartoon charaters on them. Pretty soon he would wear his solid black pants and shirt. I guess peer pressure is universal!