"I Want A Family."

Monday, October 18, 2010 - Today is a BIG day! Steve, Summer and I will be appearing before a Ukrainian judge, two jurors and a prosecutor asking them to approve our adoption of Tatyana Khonina. This morning, we had a quick "Breakfast with Moises," returned to our room to don our court-appropriate clothing (you know, the ones that make you look like you are a responsible tax-paying, law-abiding citizen) and then met Sergei in the lobby. (See photo of the handsome and appropriately dressed Steve waiting in the hotel lobby.) We quickly stopped at "The Market" (remember the bizarre bazaar that had everything from pastries to cow heads) to get some flowers from the florist shop to present to Sara once the court declares we can adopt her. We then drove to the orphanage and picked up Sara and Yanna, the orphanage attorney. I felt like the "Keystone Cops" as all 6 of us squeezed into Sergei's 5-seater sedan to make the short drive to the courthouse. It was a cold and windy day so Fall leaves were pouring out of the trees. Being one of my very favorite seasonal sights, I took this as a reminder from God that He was with us as is promised in my favorite Bible verse which I hope Sara will also hold close to her heart (Summer has had it memorized since she was 5 years old), "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Could have been personally written for Sara as well, huh?

After arriving at the odd courthouse (old building in need of various repairs), I snapped a quick picture of Summer and Sara before we entered. (See photo of the sisters-to-be.) Now, based on my previous entries, you fill in the blank. In addition to being old, the courthouse was also ____ and _____ on the inside. The adjectives should quickly come to mind as you reminisce about my previous entries about Ukrainian buildings, particularly the government buildings - cold and dark! Neither Yanna, Sara, Steve, Summer or I ever removed our winter coats throughout our entire time inside the courthouse - even during the actual court! We got through an uncomfortable time of sitting in a waiting area for our turn in the court. Sara was very quiet so I asked if she was nervous and she said she wasn't. I assume she was just out of her element of the familiar walls of the orphanage.

We were called into a small courtroom and then we stood when the judge entered. He was a stereotype of husky older-but-wiser judges all over the world who look and even sound like authority would sound if it had a voice. The court process was a distracting mixture of Ukrainian (NOT Russian) and English words as the judge spoke and our translator translated his words softly for us. Among the judge's Ukrainian words, we could clearly hear Steven Jewell, Susan Saunders Jewell, Tatyana Khonina, America, Ukraine but the rest was jibberish to us until translated by Sergei the Great (our nickname for this multi-tasking facilitator, translator, taxi driver, errand runner and breakfast and dinner buddy). We had been told that the judge also fancied himself a comedian and it didn't take long for us to hear his jokes and teasing worked into the proceeding. We had quite a few laughs - at our own expense :-).

Steve was the focal point of The Inquisition. The judge asked Steve lots of questions about his career, his income, our home, college for Tatyana, how she will learn English, etc. He asked me about my education, my stay-at-home-Mom position and why we wanted to adopt Tatyana - and that was easy to answer as I looked at him, at Tatyana, back at him and so forth with a big "mother's love" smile on my face. He asked Tatyana a few questions with the most important being why she wanted to be adopted. Her reply began with, "I want a family..." and, to me, that was not only the most important thing she said but also the most telling. You can have friends galore and even a nurturing orphanage staff but that cannot compare to a forever family. He did also ask about her name change to Tatyana Sara Jewell and she confirmed that this was her choice :-).

Court lasted about 40 minutes or so and the judge, jurors and prosecutor left to deliberate for 20 minutes. Sergei said he would take Yanna and Sara back to the orphanage during this time and then return. We ran to the car with them and pulled out our congratulatory flowers for Sara and, again, Sara smiles! (See photo of Sara with flowers in hand.) Steve, Summer and I went back to the courtroom and Summer began acting up SO badly that they placed her in a holding cell in the courtroom. (See photo of the incarcerated Summer.) Just kidding! She is such a ham and begged to get into that cell. After Summer's jail break, the judge, jurors and prosecutor returned and, for the next 10 minutes, we all stood as the fast-talking judge went through a litany of Ukrainian legal schmegal and as poor Sergei translated and tried to keep up as best he could. Steve and I intently listened to Sergei as we again heard our names spoken by the judge and even heard him say "Tatyana Sara Jewell" which gave us great hope. And then the judge declared us as authorized to adopt this sweet child of God!!! Steve and I gazed at each other with big goofy proud-parent smiles as Sergei translated the long-awaited words to us.

At our appointed visiting time (3:00 to 5:00 pm), we went to the orphanage to have our daily visit with Tatyana and friends. We must break the news to them that, since we got the court clearance, Steve is now free to leave to return to America. We will be working on his return flight when we get back to the hotel and Steve is hoping for a flight tomorrow since he is already behind schedule for a return. Some of the regulars weren't around but I did get a good photo of Steve saying goodbye to Olga and Ola. (See Steve and 2 of of the 4 "regulars.") Sara and I talked about sign language because, when we hosted her, I told her about my father being deaf and the sign language we use to communicate. Surprisingly, she showed me how to sign her name in Ukrainian sign language and said she had learned it at school. It was different from American Sign Language. I then asked Sara to pose with me for a picture specifically for my Dad. (See photo of us saying "Hi" to my Dad.)

Monday night we had a Celebrate Sara and a Maybe Goodbye Steve dinner at a VERY nice restaurant, probably the nicest in Severodonetsk. Golden Palace was recommended by Sergei for our special night but, apparently, if you arrive at 6:00 pm on a Monday night you may be the only customers! And we were - at least until about 7:00 pm when ONE other couple arrived. This was a big elegantly appointed restaurant that probably seats 150 people or more with beautiful table settings and various statues around the room gazing upon our one-table celebration. (See photo of Steve, Moises, Sergei & Summer. Note the empty but beautiful room behind them. Also see photo of Sergei and our "personal" waiter who had nothing else to do but please us.) The food was delicious and the company was awesome! Sadly, the five of us will likely not be together again.

After dinner, Summer entertained us with a special performance. As my last teaser asked, you know all about Sergei but have you seen "The Sergei?" Our Sergei the Great has had us laughing many times. I wish you could hear his Ukrainian voice say something with a Southern accent - it is spot on and hysterical! He has also surprised us with tidbits of various dance moves. Each is short and sweet and Summer, on her own, managed to put them all together to come up with a dance called "The Sergei." Sergei surprised us with a new dance move on Sunday so Summer had to add it to the dance so I captured a video of the latest and greatest "The Sergei" and will attempt to include it at the bottom of this blog entry. I hope it works because it is too cute!! Our evening concluded with a few photos my favorite of which is a walk (i.e., staged pose) down the winding staircase at Golden Palace. (See photo of Moises, Steve, me and Summer on the stairs.)

When we got back to our hotel room, Steve was able to book flights back to America. Boo-hoo! To distract me from my sadness, I will share my teaser for the next blog entry. Are you ready? What do the words "spasibo" (Russian for "thank you") and "procedure" have in common? Don't know? Guess you'll have to check the next blog for the rest of the story...(don't forget to check out "The Sergei" video below - assuming it loaded correctly).

Sunny

An Afternoon with "The Girls"

Sunday, October 17, 2010 - "Breakfast with Moises" was filled with laments this morning. Steve was dumbfounded to hear of the Gamecock's loss to Kentucky. He did not get to watch this game on the Internet because it aired, in Ukrainian time, beginning at 1:30 am or so.

We had made plans on Saturday to participate in a Sunday cooking class at 12:00 noon at the orphanage. It was not a class that Sara was in but she was planning on trying to attend with us. She would normally have a dance class during this time. When we arrived on campus, we saw Sara walking with a group of kids away from the orphanage but she saw us and ran over to hug us and tell us that she was going to her dance class after all. (As I mentioned before, Sara has a talent for dance but she also has a passion.) We went on to the cooking class and on the way there ran into sweet Ola (being adopted in Myrtle Beach & speaks a fair amount of English). She showed us to the classroom but we were told we would not be able to participate in the cooking class this time because, at the time we arrived, a class of young children would be coming soon and they would be too distracted by us. We were disappointed and decided to head back to the hotel. As Ola followed us out, she showed Summer a set of stairs bordered by "slides." (See photo of Ola and Summer sliding down the "stair slides.")

As we exited the building, Ola said she was going to the playground. For Summer's sake, we decided to follow her. The girls had fun on what we will call the playground but it was ancient by American standards with overgrown weeds, lots of dirt and even some broken glass around some of the equipment! Our first encounter with the reality of an orphanage "playground" was a couple of ping pong tables. I am not being trite at all but they truly looked like they came out of a Flintstones episode with a huge rock slab on top of two wedges of rock holding up the slab. (See photo of Summer and Ola apparently imitating "The Thinker.") There also was a series of gymnastic types of bars that had been painted and repainted many times. (See Ola and Summer showing their strength on the bars followed by a photo of Moises demonstrating his keen sense of balance.) The girls had running races and then got on some swings. We then said goodbye to Ola and told her we would see her after 3:00 pm when we returned for our official visiting time.

We walked back to the hotel a different way that gave us a more up-close view of the rows of apartment buildings that dominate the local housing market. They are everywhere and, according to Sergei, these are their permanent homes because they do not rent these apartments, they own them. (See photo of Steve, Summer and Moises amongst the buildings.) Steve was also fascinated by a nearby convenience store since his company serves the gas station industry but there were no gas pumps, only a store. It appeared to be a pair of mismatched modular buildings attached to each other with poster ads plastered over them. (See photo of Steve and Summer in front of store.) We went inside and it was quite small and narrow but two very sweet ladies greeted us so we bought some sweet treats out of a 50/50 mix of a case of sweet tooth and obligation to reward their kindness.

We returned to the orphanage in the afternoon and saw Sara outside just returning from dance. We received enthusiastic and lingering hugs from Sara and her friends and walked out of the cold into the warmth of the building. (Yes, the local government FINALLY cut on the gas heat a few days ago so we can now enter the building and actually take our coats off!) As usual, we spent our time with Sara and her wonderful friends. We encountered Olga in the hall who complimented Summer's blue glasses and said she would like a pair just like these because blue is her favorite color. She tried them on. (See photo of Olga wearing Summer's glasses.)

We again went to Sara's room which has now become a gathering spot for all of her friends when we arrive. I shot a great photo of the three roommates. (See photo of Sara, Alainia and Christina - pose is totally their idea because, as I said, they LOVE to pose.) Sara's roommates requested photos with us. (See photo of Steve with Alainia and Christina followed by a photo of Alainia and me.) I then requested a photo of OUR growing family and it turned out to be a good photo that I just may have to frame back in the States. (See our framable family photo.)

Tomorrow (Monday) is THE DAY!! We will go to court to hopefully be cleared as parents and as a family to adopt Sara. WOW! And this journey all comes down to this moment on this day at 12:00 noon in a town I never heard of until one year ago, Severodonetsk, Ukraine. We are told that Steve will primarily be questioned but that Sara and I will speak as well. A little scary but A LOT exciting!

And, as for the teaser at the end of Saturday's blog entry, you will just have to deal with more suspense because I cannot reveal the answer at this time because the answer has been, shall we say, updated. You have seen photos of Sergei but, trust me, you have not seen "The Sergei" until you see "The Sergei" in tomorrow's blog entry. So, tune in then...for the rest of the story...

Sunny

Our Court Date is Set!!!!!

Friday, October 15, 2010 and Saturday, October 16 - Guess who's coming to dinner? We are! Details in a moment. We started our Friday with breakfast with Moises sans Jamie. He did share with us that she arrived safely back in America without delivering her baby in the process - yea! Every day since we have arrived, we have had breakfast with either the Antenuccis and Sergei, just Moises or just Sergei. In his blog, Moises describes our daily breakfast as "Breakfast with the Jewells" and commented that this sounds like the name of a movie. I concur except our movie title would be "Breakfast with the Antenuccis" or "Breakfast with Moises and Sergei."

In the afternoon, we met Moises and Sergei in the hotel lobby so Sergei could drive all four of us to the orphanage since he was going to help Moises with some translation. As we entered the lobby, he told us the good news that our court date is now set!! We will be at the local court with Sara on Monday, October 17. Our 10-day waiting period then begins on Tuesday and, sadly for me, Steve will then be free to leave. Boo-hoo!!!! When we arrived at the orphanage, Larisa was in the hall with Sara so we all hugged and talked. Larisa addressed Sergei and then he translated that Larisa wanted to have us three at her house for dinner on Saturday and Sergei as well. We were so honored that she would ask this!! We gladly accepted! Sara and Larisa then talked back and forth and Sergei translated that Sara was asking Larisa if she could come too and that Larisa had said no since she would not be allowed to leave campus at night to come to her home. Sara was her typical determined self and, with her impish smile, she continued to try to convince Larisa to include her. Then even we could understand Larisa's final reply, "Nyet, Tonya" which is "No, Tatyana." We then went to Sara's room to have our visiting time. She asked several questions about her school in America and when she would start. I picked up a calendar and showed her the date she would likely start at Lexington High with the next week ending in the long Thanksgiving weekend followed by three weeks of school and then two weeks off for Christmas. I think all the holidays from school were comforting to her because she seemed pleased. We did our usual talking, laughing, visiting with a friend or two as they came in and out and more snapping of photos. I have taken 305 photos already! (See photos of Sara and me, then Summer and Sara and then two of Summer and Sara goofing around and already acting like sisters.) When it was time to leave, we each did our usual l-o-n-g hugs with Sara and then walked back to the hotel acknowledging and wallowing in a heartwarming purr/hum that she does as she is getting her goodbye hug each day. Just another thing that lets us know that she truly feels loved when in our arms!

On Saturday, we had breakfast with...drum roll...Moises and Sergei, our now constant companions whom we will deeply miss when they are no longer part of our daily lives! Breakfast will never be the same. Then we walked to the orphanage with Moises where we did our usual split to spend time with our respective daughters. Sara's friends again joined us as we looked through photos on my camera (these girls LOVE photographs - taking them and being in them) and just visiting and communicating in English and them mostly understanding enough words to get what we were saying. This time we were joined by Alainia, Sara's roommate, who has frequently been in class during our visiting time. She joined us three, Sara, Christina, Olga and Ola, whom I have grown so close to and will be adopted by her Myrtle Beach host family. (See photo of, left to right, Alainia, Ola & Olga.) These girls are a true joy and I completely understand why Sara doesn't want to part from them because I don't either!

We returned to our room to have a Skype call arranged by my dear friend Cynthia Pate. It was a great call during which Summer also got to talk to one of her best buddies, Mollie. It is amazing that we can talk face to face with family and friends in America when we are 5,000+ miles away! We then met Sergei in the lobby and drove to Larisa's apartment where we met her always-smiling face outside of her building. She guided us up the four flights of stairs to her fourth floor apartment (again my thighs reminded me that they much prefer elevators!). We met her husband, Genna, and her adult daughter and son, Alina and Sasha. All three of them have the same infectious smile as Larisa! We felt SO welcomed and SO at home! The house had the sweet aroma of food and Larisa invited us into her kitchen. (See photo of Larisa at the stove.) Much to my surprise and pleasure, we were having homemade borscht, the trademark "soup" of Ukraine. I had read about and heard about borscht but, in our weeks here, I had yet to taste this infamous soup. It is a cabbage-like soup with a delicious broth and there was what they called homemade "mayonnaise" (looked like hollandaise sauce) to put in the soup. In the kitchen was a huge pot in which Larisa was cooking homemade vareniks (dumplings filled with mashed potatoes) and topped with carmelized onions. Anyone hungry yet??? (See photo of Steve fake-eating an uncooked varenik.)

We then sat, we toasted our gathering (see photo of Summer toasting with her juice), we ate until truly stuffed, we laughed (see photo of Larisa & Genna laughing) and we talked with the help of our translator Sergei. We asked Larisa so many questions about Sara and learned more about her as a young child. She described her as shy but popular with the other girls, a good student with good grades and as someone who treats others with respect. She also described Sara as one of her very favorite students and said that it will be very difficult to see her go but that she also wants Sara to be a part of our family and to fulfill her dream of coming to America where Larisa knows she will have a good life. After dinner, Larisa brought her laptop to the table and showed us older and recent photos of Sara during her time at the orphanage. Then it was time to leave this special home of these special people. Sergei took one last picture of Larisa's family and our family. (See two-family photo.) I will never forget this night - because I am still full of vareniks at 2:00 pm the next day - but, more so, that I was so touched by Larisa's hospitality and her engaging and gracious family.

Teaser: You know all about Sergei...but have you seen "The Sergei?" You will see "it" on the next blog entry so look for the rest of the story...

Sunny

Goodbye, Jamie! Hello, Christina!

Wednesday, October 13 AND Thursday, October 14 - Wednesday was a sad day in Severodonetsk and yet a joyous one as well! Jamie Antenucci, the wife of the wonderful adoptive couple with whom we have been sharing this adoption journey, left to return to America today. Both parents are required to stay in Severodonetsk until the court date takes place which authorizes the adoption. Once this court takes place, one of the parents can leave if he/she has signed certain papers in advance with a notary signature (which is what Steve is going to do as well). Then the remaining parent has a 10-day waiting period and, at the end of that period, the adoption is complete. As I mentioned, Jamie is 7 1/2 months pregnant and needed to return to America but also wanted to return to their 4 other children (soon to be 6 children!). Their court date was on Tuesday. Thankfully, Moises has us to keep him company and Summer and I will have him to keep us company after Steve leaves. (See photo of Jamie waving goodbye - boo hoo!!)

After our last breakfast with Jamie on Wednesday morning, we went to the orphanage for our afternoon visit with Sara. She invited us to her room where we reminisced about her stay with us last December and January by looking through her two photo albums she assembled before leaving our home. Her close friends, Ola and Olga, came into the room shortly thereafter and quickly retrieved their own hosting photo albums for us to see. We all talked and laughed because Olga, who could be a comedienne, kept us in stitches because she knows a decent amount of English and just has that knack for wording her English in such a way that you just crack up!! And then...hello, Christina! Sara's best friend entered the room with a huge smile on her face, not uncommon for her, but this time her face had a certain glow that set THIS smile apart from others. She announced that she had just Skyped with her host family (in Mississippi, Summer 2010) and that they told her they are going to start the process to adopt her. She was beaming from this news! And, get this, they are also adopting her 2 brothers and her sister AND they already have 2 biological children! Wow! Are you in awe of this family or what?!?!? This is FANTASTIC news for Sara and for us because now ALL THREE of her closest friends will be coming to America - Christina, Olga (Atlanta) and Ola (Myrtle Beach)!!! YEA!!!!! And Olga had just told us, prior to Christina's arrival, that her Atlanta family is coming to Ukraine on November 17 to start her adoption process so she should be in America by Christmas! God has blessed this special group of friends!! (See photo of - left to right - Christina, Olga, Ola and Sara - aren't they beautiful??) Once we settled down from the excitement, we all played Uno. These girls LOVE Uno! In fact, when we hosted Sara, we played Uno virtually every single day and sometimes twice a day. (See photo of Steve and Sara during Uno game followed by a close-up of my sweet Sara.) And, by the way (teaser alert), Russian is not only their language, it is also a strategy!! Let's just say there was a lot of Russian going on between these girls that was obviously about the cards in their hands as they strategized how to best "get" Steve. Sara loved to do this while in America :-). Language barrier cheating - priceless!

So...what do raw meat, pastries, army boots, deodorant and kitchen sinks have in common? We quickly found out when we three joined Sergei and Moises for a visit to "The Market," the shopping mecca of Severodonetsk. Now, when I say "mecca," don't think massive mall or street upon street of downtown boutique shopping. Think one-stop shopping for anything you might need - and get ready for the photo to prove it!! The guys had already been there and I think they wanted us to experience this spectacle of "sights, sounds and smells" with smells being first because we walked in the door and were surrounded by whole fish and raw meats of all kinds just sitting out on tables (NO refrigeration!). Just suffice it to say that Summer and I about lost our late morning breakfast thanks to the mixed smells of raw meat! And the sights didn't help either! (See photo of woman proudly displaying her cow's head - sorry, but it was too surreal not to share, and you do want to share in our FULL experience of Ukraine, right?) In this mammoth indoor section of The Market, there were rows and rows and rows of just about every kind of meat and every part of meat you could imagine. Thankfully, there were also rows of cheeses, flowers, pastries, etc. as well. (See photo of Steve and Summer.) Then Sergei led us to the outdoor section which I presumed to some tables, flea market style - but no!!! It was row after row after row of about 100+ small booths most with just enough room for the attendant to fit in with a seat. (See photo of one booth that was so cluttered with goods that you can see the customer but can barely see the attendant through the small hole in the stock of goods.) It felt like one of those outdoor mazes you pay to get in to figure out how to get out! If we wouldn't have had Sergei, we would still be there today lost in the labyrinth of booths. What an experience! And I can't decide if we should have felt like movie stars or criminals because we got LOTS and LOTS of looks and stares - or is it that we just have that American stamp on our faces?

That afternoon, we visited Sara at the orphanage. Just before we entered the building, we came upon the unofficial mascots for the school - an unnamed cat and a tiny dog, fondly named Cujo by Moises, who both hang out at the front door. When I was first told of the name Moises had given this dog, I wondered why in the world this pitiful little pup who cowers when Summer approaches him would be nicknamed after the infamous and ferocious Cujo. I got to witness why! One day a big husky man walked out of the school and this pint-sized mutt took off and snapped at the heels of this large man baring his full set of teeth and barking madly like he was...Cujo! It was actually very funny to watch this small dog become ferocious with a huge man 25 times his size! (See the photo of the meek and mild Kujo as Summer pets him and his front-door buddy - "the cat".) We visited with Sara and had some good talks with her, especially considering we didn't have Olga to translate this day. One interesting note from our talk. Steve asked Sara what career she would like to have one day and she said she wants to be a translator. I love that! At the end of our visit, Sara had to go to class (they have a class at 5:00 pm following their 2-hour afternoon break) and she asked if we would like to see it and we said yes. She went down the hall and got a key (we weren't sure why) and we walked to the room. The key opened the door so apparently our little Sara has some type of authority/responsibility at the school. We snapped a photo of her sitting at her usual desk. (See photo of Sara at her desk followed by a photo of her sitting at the teacher's desk at Steve's prompting - which she willingly did.) Shortly thereafter, the kids, most of whom we knew, started coming in so we hugged her and left. Always a little sad for us to leave her there! But there will be more hugs tomorrow :-).

Teaser for the next blog entry is...Guess who's coming to dinner? You'll find out soon and then you will know...the rest of the story...

Sunny

Bravo, Sara! Encore! Encore!

Wednesday, October 12 - How DO you top the pinnacle of a surprise birthday party put on by Ukrainian teenagers at their orphanage including your big-hearted daughter-to-be?? Well, actually you can't but, if anything could, it would be going to see her dance in a big production at the old yet stately and beautiful community theater. A few days before, Sara had asked us if we would like to see her dance and we enthusiastically said yes!!! When we hosted Sara last December and January, we quickly learned how much she loves to dance. She had brought a journal with her that had several photos intermittently pasted on some pages and all of them were photos of her dancing or in a dance costume. We have now learned that the orphanage has dance classes but somehow several of the girls (perhaps those who excel in dance - and one would be our Sara :-) are in a dance group that allows them to dance outside of the orphanage in community performances. Today is one of those performances and we were so excited that we would get to see her dance in person on stage in a dance production. Well, at least I thought it was just a dance performance...

We never quite figured out what the purpose of this event was but it was definitely an interesting experience. We met Larisa, Sara's teacher and pseudo-Mom, at the entrance to this grand theater. Sidebar: Sergei told us that this stately and column-laden theater was built while Ukraine was under Soviet rule which would explain its grandeur in the face of poverty. Larisa greeted us with her always-present and infectious smile. She led us up three l-o-n-g flights of stairs and we couldn't help but wonder where we were going. Larisa can only speak a limited number of English words but we trust and love her so we just followed her like obedient puppies. Once we reached the summit (ha!), we saw a roomful of young girls and teens rehearsing and following the instructions of a Russian-speaking woman whom we found out later is Sara's dance teacher. My eyes scanned the room and there, even more beautiful than yesterday, was Sara in her flowing costume looking like an angel gliding across the floor. She saw us but continued to concentrate on her steps but, as soon as there was a small break, she ran out into the stairwell landing and hugged us.

When Sara returned to the rehearsal, Larisa led us back down the endless stairs to the theater where we discovered there were few seats remaining. Larisa then led us up MORE stairs to the balcony and, sadly, the door was locked. Back to the three l-o-n-g flights of stairs to the rehearsal room with my thighs screaming incredulously. Larisa got the teacher's attention and they went back and forth in Russian and then the teacher returned to the room, spoke to Sara and then Sara appeared with a key in her hand. Like a deer, she ran effortlessly and speedily down the stairs as we attempted to keep up with her. Forget that because we never saw her again until she was on stage. Larisa led us back up the stairs to the balcony and, thanks to Sara's invisible handiwork, the door was unlocked. I had now had my Stairmaster exercise for the day and plopped myself in a front and center balcony seat with Larisa, Steve and Summer. Whew!

The show started and we were so ready to see Sara dance. But...hold the phone...after two hosts opened the show, there were official looking men on the stage speaking in Russian (with almost preacher-like motions). They spoke...and spoke...and spoke... then introduced another man wearing lots of medals on his suit jacket who then spoke...and spoke...and spoke with lots of projection and gesturing. He spoke so long that one of the other men had to walk up behind him and touch his arm. He continued to speak with great conviction and more gestures and finally closed as the other man was now tugging his arm. It was almost like a cartoon but then all was made clear when we found out he was a local politician. Applause recedes... Now let's get on with the dancing...but then more people came up and spoke Russian and introduced a series of other people who came up and received plaques and/or flowers. Applause...OK, NOW we will get on with the dancing...but out came a woman with a microphone who sang us a song in Russian and she sang it beautifully but apparently the tip about pulling the microphone away when you hit your high note isn't a custom here as we all cringed as her soprano voice about shattered our ear drums. Applause...OK, NOW we get on with the dancing...and another singer came out...Applause...OK, NOW we get on with the dancing...but a group of 6 women now came out to sing traditional Ukrainian music with an accordion player...Applause...you get the picture. (See photo of the 6 singers with their accordion player.)

We are now wondering if we came to a dance show at all but, just about the time we are totally perplexed, Larisa motioned our attention to the stage and held up her camera so I knew to ready mine to capture the beauty and grace of my dancing angel. And then, FINALLY, there she was - just as beautiful and graceful as I anticipated as she floated across the stage with her dance group (which included two of her classmates at the orphanage, one of which is her best friend Christina). Although there were other dancers, I barely gave them a glance because all I could think about was this beautiful and talented Ukrainian girl is going to be my daughter!! This child who is gliding across this stage and who has risen far above her circumstances in life will soon become a part of our family and will return with us to make our home her home. God is great!!! I love my God who planned long ago that Sara would become part of our family. It gives me chills! It also brings me to happy tears as I watch this girl who willingly walked into an orphanage at 7 years old to make her life better and to make something of herself. What a gift she is and I thank my God that He chose us to love and shepherd this special child!

Sara danced in three different dance routines and I couldn't keep my eyes off of her throughout every dance. As the house lights came up at the end of the show, there stood Sara among the finale dancers and I could see that she was looking at us in the balcony. I waved my arms in the air like an obsessed and proud Mom and could see a grin break out across her face - so I waved all the more! I wanted to yell, "Bravo, Sara! Encore! Encore!" but I restrained myself. (Note: Because the theater was so dark and the dances were dimly lit and we were in the balcony, few of my still photos turned out. Because my camera has video capability, I did capture a video of part of one of her dances. I made an attempt to add this video to my photos on this entry but it didn't work. Sorry! You will probably see a box at the bottom of this blog that resulted from my attempt that I don't think will work. If you see a box, you can try to play it but it looked like it didn't load to me. If it did, Sara dances primarily on the right side at the back of the line.)

Afterwards, we went to the rehearsal area to congratulate and pick up Sara. Her dance teacher hugged us three saying obviously emotional words in Russian as she teared up. I imagine she is as sad to lose Sara as we are happy to bring her home. (See photo of our family of four - wink! - with the dance teacher.) We then left the theater with Larisa, Sara, Christina and her other friend from the orphanage - don't remember her name. As we left, we took a couple of pictures of the girls and of this striking theater. (See photo of "the girls" as we left the theater followed by a photo of Sara in front of the theater building.) We walked back to the orphanage with Larisa leaving us about halfway to walk home. We hugged and said our goodbyes at the orphanage entrance since it was now after the 5:00 end time for our visiting hours.

That night we ate at what has to be THE nicest restaurant in this town! Our usual crowd, the three of us, the Antenuuci's and Sergei, ate delicious food at Eden - an ornately decorated restaurant with white statue-like carvings throughout, china and crystal glasses. The best part was our waitress' name was Tatyana! (See photo of Tatyana and me.) We laughed and talked and laughed and talked like we always do and enjoyed a fabulous meal. (See photo of Summer that she took herself at the restaurant - too cute!)

The next blog entry will address the following question: When playing cards, is Russian a language - or a strategy? Tune in tomorrow...for the rest of the story...

Sunny

"Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You..."

Monday, October 11, 2010 - How do you have the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER??? By being Steve Jewell celebrating his 51st birthday in Ukraine with his family and with his soon-to-be daughter who has a great big heart!! Steve's special day started with the usual free breakfast at the hotel restaurant which we again shared with the Antenucci's. (Sergei was running adoption errands.) And I just have to take a moment to thank God for blessing us with this wonderful couple with whom we have talked, laughed but most importantly with whom we have shared this adoption journey. Sergei told us that it is rare to have two adoptive families in Severodonetsk at the same time so we truly consider ourselves blessed to have been able to share this experience with them.

To make our usual 3:00 to 5:00 pm visiting time with Sara at the orphanage, we left the hotel around 2:50 pm to take the 8 minute walk. As usual, we walked up the stairs to her third floor hall (no elevators there either - and still NO heat - BRRRRR!). As we entered the long hall, we saw kids at the opposite end of the hall near the recreation room. Sara was one of them and, instead of running down the hall to give us our daily hug-greeting, she turned into the recreation room - but that was no surprise because we have met in there several times. We walked on and, as we approached the series of recreation room windows, we could see about 15 girls and boys lined up against the wall with Sara in the center. (See photo of kids lined up on wall - sadly Sara is hidden by someone.) A little birdie (with red hair - wink!) had already told me she wanted to do something for Steve's birthday so I stepped back and let Steve enter first. In unison, their voices burst forth in English singing "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you (and here is the America's Funniest Videos part), Happy birthday dear ... a mumbled murmur, then a split second of silence, then laughter from all present and then..."Happy Birthday to you!" Too hilarious and too sweet! I guess they forgot to practice his name. They had also put up balloons and one of the girls, adorable Ola, had drawn a beautiful poster that was up on the wall. (See photo of Steve with Ola's "Happy Birthday" poster.)

Then, Sara asked us to sit on a sofa in the room as eight girls took positions in the room, including Sara (who was right in front of us, by design I am sure). They danced two routines for us and I snapped MANY pictures of Sara like any good momma would do :-). (See photo of Sara dancing - one of her many talents.) Then Sara pulled up a bench in front of us and sat down with a guitar (yet another talent) along with three of her friends and touched us deeply with a beautiful song sung in Russian. (See photo of, left to right, Alainia, Christina, Sara & Nastya.) Then we were entertained by two couples doing traditional ballroom dancing. (See photo of Christina dancing with partner.) This was the conclusion of Sara's gift to Steve and, afterwards, there was a hug-fest with not only Sara but with the many participants. (See photo of Steve and Sara - priceless!) After the hugs, we were SO touched by Sara's wonderful teacher, Larisa, who gave Steve a gift followed by several children who came in with small gifts of their own for Steve and even one for me, a beautiful bead bracelet made by Nastya. These children have very little of their own things since clothes, shoes, etc. are shared among the children so gifts of personal items are truly from a place of love. (See photo of Larisa, Steve and these selfless children.) Gifts to us from orphans who have so little! Amazing...and oh so touching!!

After what Steve described as "The Best Birthday Party EVER," alternating groups of the kids enjoyed playing with "Photo Booth" on our computer. They were gathered in a big circle around Sara as she held the computer looking at some of her poses from her stay with us last Christmas and then they all began posing, making faces and doing all kinds of distortions to their own faces and snapping photos. (See the three photos of various kids playing on Photo Booth.) Once they broke from playing with the computer, I took a breathtaking photo of the beautiful best friends, Sara and Christina. (See the close-up of the two of them.) I understand why Steve said this was his best birthday party ever because these children gave of themselves to recognize his birthday. They honored him with their time and talents and he was beyond touched!

After this memorable birthday celebration, we went to dinner with the Antenucci's and Sergei at a wonderful restaurant named Istanbulista. It is a cafe-like restaurant that is owned by a Turkish couple, Sirhan and his wife (didn't catch her name). When we entered, our first impression was that of an American Internet cafe that also had a big screen TV with music videos. But then effusive and incredibly likable Sirhan comes to the table, greets you with his self-taught English and asks what type of food you like and then suggests a dish that you may like. He made a suggestion and we all ordered it, except Summer for whom he brought a grilled chicken breast with french fries. Personal customer service at a Ukrainian restaurant that felt like an America restaurant where the owner is also the waiter who speaks Turkish, Russian and English - again, priceless! The Antenucci's had surprised Steve with a birthday cake before we left the hotel so Sirhan brought that out and we all enjoyed a slice, including Jamie and Steve who had ALSO ordered other desserts. Jamie is feeding two (remember she is pregnant) and Steve...well, it was his birthday after all!!! What a GREAT day this was!

Teaser - how do you top the pinnacle of a surprise birthday party put on by your big-hearted daughter-to-be and her big-hearted friends at their orphanage? Tune in for the next blog entry...for the rest of the story...and Happy Birthday, Hubby!! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunny