We spent today traveling to Donetsk to complete more paperwork. As it turns out, Anna has an older sister who can not be located. Even though we were assured that it wasn't going to be an issue with our adoption process, it turns out we have to complete more paperwork to separate Anna from her sister so she could be adopted. We met with the director of children's services in Donetsk and she stated that she would have this paperwork done by tomorrow or Monday.
After leaving the children's services office, we took Victor to the train station. Victor is taking our documents back to the State Department of Adoptions in Kiev. After receiving our documents, the SDA will give Victor permission for us to have court to adopt Anna. Victor will be returning to the region sometime next week with these documents.
Until Victor returns, Laura and I are staying in a hotel in an town near Uglegorsk. Paul and Holly are staying in an apartment in the town next to ours with Anya, the translator/facilitator that Victor hired to help with the process. Tomorrow, we will be moving to an apartment in the same town as Paul and Holly. This town is closer to our girls orphanage.
We were initially told that we wouldn't have enough time to visit with Anna today. Visitation with the children is from 3pm-6pm and Victor didn't think we would make it back from Donetsk in time. As it turned out, we were able to make it back to Uglegorsk by about 5pm.
When we arrived at the orphanage, we exited the car and saw Anna outside walking toward us. When Anna realized it was us, she started running. I ran to Anna and lifted her off the ground as I gave her a big hug. Anna embraced me in a hug for several seconds then went to give Laura a big hug too.
Anna took us by the hand and led us into the orphanage. We went to her room to spend some time alone with her. Paul and Holly were also there with Masha. We asked Anna if she wanted to keep her name or change it. Anna emphatically replied that she wanted to change her name. We had a short list of names and she picked Emily for her new first name and Rebecca for her new middle name. So our new daughter will be named Emily Rebecca Mertes. From now on I will be referring to her as Emily.
Emily keeps asking when she gets to leave the orphanage for good. Our daughter is so eager to come home with us and begin her new life. Anya keeps telling her that she will be leaving soon. We are trying to have court as soon as possible. Then, after court, there is a ten day waiting period before I can take her home. This time seems like a long time for me but I'm sure it seems even longer to her. It brings us so much joy to know that she can't wait to start her life with us.
During this visit, Emily showed us off to all the other kids at the orphanage. There are so many beautiful children at this orphanage. It makes me so sad to see all these children without families. One of the boys spoke English and he enjoyed showing off his English speaking skills. These children are so polite and well behaved. They keep their rooms very clean.
Emily and Masha were talking about friend of theirs named Rada. Rada really wants a family. Emily and Masha are really close with Rada and they really want to see her get a family too. Hopefully we can meet Rada and get to know her a little bit so we can advocate for her and find her a family. Yesterday, I mentioned how great it was that Emily and Masha were good friends that were getting adopted at the same time. I didn't realize at the time that they were actually a threesome with Rada included. Emily and Masha are such amazing young ladies. They are getting what they have always wanted: a family. Instead of thinking only about themselves, they are thinking about the friend they are leaving behin.
Our visit today was only an hour due to our trip to Donetsk. We will be there tomorrow. The children are performing tomorrow. We can't wait to see the performance.
Currently, I am doing these posts from an internet cafe. Our current hotel doesn't have internet. The computers at the internet cafe don't allow you to copy files from a flash drive. I will post pictures as soon as I can.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Reunited with our precious daughter!!
Before I start, let me say that today was a great day. We were reunited with our precious daughter. It was a day that brought so much joy to our hearts and from judging Anna's reaction, it brought much happiness to Anna as well.
The last two days have been very busy. We received our referral to go to the orphanage and begin the adoption process yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, Sept. 27th. Before receiving the referral, we walked around Independence Square and browsed the shops under Independence Square. We received the referral at about 5:00 pm. Then, we had to hurry back to our apartment to load our bags into a taxi so we could get to the train station in time for our 7:30 train to Donetsk.
The train ride from Kiev to Donetsk took approximately 12 hours and was surprisingly comfortable. Victor told us the train car we were riding in was a newer train car with more ammenities than the older train cars. Sleeping on the train was interesting. When the train would stop at a station, I would wake up. When the train started moving again, I had no problem falling back to sleep.
We arrived in Donetsk at about 7:30 am. We found our taxi and waited for another family Victor is working with to arrive on a later train. The other family, Paul and Holly, are adopting a friend of Anna's, a beautiful blonde haired girl named Masha. After Paul and Holly arrived, we took a long taxi ride to the children's services office.
When we entered the children's services office, I handed the roses I bought at the train station to the Director of the children's services. This pleased the Director and she gave me an unexpected hug. Giving the flowers to the Director had a positive affect on our meeting with her. We were initially told the meeting would take 1-2 hours to complete; however, our paperwork was signed and we were out of the office in less than 20 minutes. After leaving the children's services office, we were finally on our way to Anna's orphanage.
When we arrived at the orphanage, I noticed a group of boys playing outside. They stopped what they were doing and looked at the van full of American's. When we got out of the van, they approached us and asked questions. We entered the building and went directly to the orphanage director's office. We were invited to sit down and the orphanage director sent someone to get Anna and Masha.
We introduced ourselves to the orphanage director. The director was very friendly and asked us questions about our careers, family, and why were wanted to adopt Anna and Masha. After answering her questions, the director began telling us about Anna and Masha. She told us both girls are very talented and participate in ballet dancing and singing at the orphanage. The director also added that Anna is a leader. The director seemed very attached to Anna and Masha. She said she will be sad to see Anna and Masha leave but she is excited for them to have families.
At about this time, the door opened and into the room entered Anna and Masha. We stood up and called out her name. Anna saw us and rushed to us as quickly as she could, moving chairs out of her way to get to us. She embraced both of us in multiple hugs. I am not one to cry but I was so happy to be reunited with Anna that I am not ashamed to admit I had tears. I had practiced countless times how to say, "I love you", in Russian just for this moment. I was so moved by this moment that I could barely say the phrase I had practiced so many times. Anna understood what I said and repeated it back to me. I saw even more tears coming from Laura's eyes when she hugged Anna and they said "I love you" to each other.
Anna took us to see her room. The room was very clean and orderly. It contained 4 bunk beads for 8 girls to sleep in. Anna and Masha share the same bunk bed. I think it is so amazing that these two girls who are friends and have been in the orphanage for so many years are both being adopted to the United States at the same time.
Anna took us to another room to spend time alone with us. Words cannot accurately describe how beautiful this time was with her. We talked, looked at pictures, and hugged a lot more. Unfortunately our time together didn't last long. We had to leave to complete more paperwork. We were very disappointed we didn't have more time with her but we will be back tomorrow. Plus, when the adoption is complete, we will have her forever. It may not be legal yet, but Anna is our daughter now.
After completing some paperwork, we had pizza for dinner. The pizza was great. As a matter a fact, all the food has been great so far. After dinner, we went to our hotel. On our way to the hotel, we drove past a relic from the cold war. It was a chemical weapons plant built by the Russians.
That's it for now. I will try to post again tomorrow.
The last two days have been very busy. We received our referral to go to the orphanage and begin the adoption process yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, Sept. 27th. Before receiving the referral, we walked around Independence Square and browsed the shops under Independence Square. We received the referral at about 5:00 pm. Then, we had to hurry back to our apartment to load our bags into a taxi so we could get to the train station in time for our 7:30 train to Donetsk.
The train ride from Kiev to Donetsk took approximately 12 hours and was surprisingly comfortable. Victor told us the train car we were riding in was a newer train car with more ammenities than the older train cars. Sleeping on the train was interesting. When the train would stop at a station, I would wake up. When the train started moving again, I had no problem falling back to sleep.
We arrived in Donetsk at about 7:30 am. We found our taxi and waited for another family Victor is working with to arrive on a later train. The other family, Paul and Holly, are adopting a friend of Anna's, a beautiful blonde haired girl named Masha. After Paul and Holly arrived, we took a long taxi ride to the children's services office.
When we entered the children's services office, I handed the roses I bought at the train station to the Director of the children's services. This pleased the Director and she gave me an unexpected hug. Giving the flowers to the Director had a positive affect on our meeting with her. We were initially told the meeting would take 1-2 hours to complete; however, our paperwork was signed and we were out of the office in less than 20 minutes. After leaving the children's services office, we were finally on our way to Anna's orphanage.
When we arrived at the orphanage, I noticed a group of boys playing outside. They stopped what they were doing and looked at the van full of American's. When we got out of the van, they approached us and asked questions. We entered the building and went directly to the orphanage director's office. We were invited to sit down and the orphanage director sent someone to get Anna and Masha.
We introduced ourselves to the orphanage director. The director was very friendly and asked us questions about our careers, family, and why were wanted to adopt Anna and Masha. After answering her questions, the director began telling us about Anna and Masha. She told us both girls are very talented and participate in ballet dancing and singing at the orphanage. The director also added that Anna is a leader. The director seemed very attached to Anna and Masha. She said she will be sad to see Anna and Masha leave but she is excited for them to have families.
At about this time, the door opened and into the room entered Anna and Masha. We stood up and called out her name. Anna saw us and rushed to us as quickly as she could, moving chairs out of her way to get to us. She embraced both of us in multiple hugs. I am not one to cry but I was so happy to be reunited with Anna that I am not ashamed to admit I had tears. I had practiced countless times how to say, "I love you", in Russian just for this moment. I was so moved by this moment that I could barely say the phrase I had practiced so many times. Anna understood what I said and repeated it back to me. I saw even more tears coming from Laura's eyes when she hugged Anna and they said "I love you" to each other.
Anna took us to see her room. The room was very clean and orderly. It contained 4 bunk beads for 8 girls to sleep in. Anna and Masha share the same bunk bed. I think it is so amazing that these two girls who are friends and have been in the orphanage for so many years are both being adopted to the United States at the same time.
Anna took us to another room to spend time alone with us. Words cannot accurately describe how beautiful this time was with her. We talked, looked at pictures, and hugged a lot more. Unfortunately our time together didn't last long. We had to leave to complete more paperwork. We were very disappointed we didn't have more time with her but we will be back tomorrow. Plus, when the adoption is complete, we will have her forever. It may not be legal yet, but Anna is our daughter now.
After completing some paperwork, we had pizza for dinner. The pizza was great. As a matter a fact, all the food has been great so far. After dinner, we went to our hotel. On our way to the hotel, we drove past a relic from the cold war. It was a chemical weapons plant built by the Russians.
That's it for now. I will try to post again tomorrow.
Monday, September 26, 2011
SDA appointment
We had our appointment today with the State Department for Adoptions. Our appointment went really well. The woman with the SDA that we had our meeting with was a very nice woman. She was very friendly and seemed genuinely happy we were adopting Anna. She showed us a picture of Anna taken shortly after her arrival in the orphanage and explained that the picture was not a good representation of Anna. We handed her a photo album with pictures we took of Anna during her stay with us in July. The SDA lady was excited to see the pictures and enjoyed looking at them. She then asked us how we came to know Anna. We explained that she stayed with us for 3 weeks as part of a hosting program. Then, she asked why we wanted to adopt Anna. The first response we had to this question was that we loved her. I also explained that everyone in the family loved Anna. The SDA lady seemed emotionally moved by this response.
The meeting ended with us being informed that we can return to the SDA tomorrow to pick up our referral giving us permission to visit Anna at her orphanage to start the adoption process. After picking up the referral, we will catch the over night train to the region Anna's orphanage is located.
After leaving the SDA, we had lunch at a restaurant with Wifi and employees who spoke English. This was our first time eating out without Victor there to do the translating for us. Having employees who spoke English made this much easier for us.
After eating lunch, we did some shopping and walked around the city close our hotel. We saw Independence Square. Britney Spears will be in concert there tomorrow night. While shopping, I got a few laughs when employees would ask if I needed help and I responded in Russian that "I don't understand Russian." It was all in fun.
Tomorrow will be exciting. After getting the referral, we will do the last bit of traveling needed to get to our little girl. We can't wait to see her.
The meeting ended with us being informed that we can return to the SDA tomorrow to pick up our referral giving us permission to visit Anna at her orphanage to start the adoption process. After picking up the referral, we will catch the over night train to the region Anna's orphanage is located.
After leaving the SDA, we had lunch at a restaurant with Wifi and employees who spoke English. This was our first time eating out without Victor there to do the translating for us. Having employees who spoke English made this much easier for us.
After eating lunch, we did some shopping and walked around the city close our hotel. We saw Independence Square. Britney Spears will be in concert there tomorrow night. While shopping, I got a few laughs when employees would ask if I needed help and I responded in Russian that "I don't understand Russian." It was all in fun.
Tomorrow will be exciting. After getting the referral, we will do the last bit of traveling needed to get to our little girl. We can't wait to see her.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
We are in Ukraine!!!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Our beautiful daughter Anna
On July 3, 2011, we met our future daughter, Anna, for the first time. Anna lives in an orphanage in Ukraine. She came to live with us this past summer as part of a hosting program bringing orphan children from orphanages in Ukraine to the United States to experience life in a home with an American family. The three weeks Anna lived with us was an amazing experience. Anna far exceeded our expectations. Anna is beautiful young lady. She is also very smart and funny, happy, and friendly. We love Anna with all our hearts. She returned to Ukraine on July 25 and we have missed her dearly everyday since. On Saturday, September 26, 2011, we begin our journey to bring Anna back home.
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