Any News?

It's funny b/c we met some people online that are in the same situation we are processing through this stage of the adoption in Ukraine. They are having the same conversations with their friends and family as we are. The dominant question: So, do you have any news? The dominant response: Nope.

Well, here's some news...

We did get word from our family coordinator saying that she spoke with our facilitator (Yuri) in Ukraine and the scoop is that he spoke with a staff psychologist at the state department of adoption (SDA) and the plan is to invite families waiting for a second appointment back when there is a child matching their request (we were hoping for that!). Tomorrow, January 9th, Yuri has a meeting with the Deputy Director of the SDA to share our situation and to get clear answers regarding approximate travel dates based on when children matching our request will be available. This meeting is going down @ 3 p.m. Kiev time (7 a.m. Omaha time...but you can see that thanks to those saavy clocks we loaded on the site!)

Would you please join us in prayer for that meeting tomorrow? Please pray for the following:

• That Yuri would have a productive meeting with the Director and that they would be honest and straightforward giving clear directions on what we can expect upon our return.
• That we would have a much clearer picture regarding travel dates
• That our second appointment would ultimately yield the little girl that matches our request

Tomorrow we're having to start the process of updating forms. We get to start with the medical form! This one was by far the most difficult one to complete the first time around. We have to go get another HIV, syphillis, hepatitis B, and TB test. I'm wondering what our insurance company thinks of all this? What would you think if someone came in to a clinic within one year of previously having these tests for high-risk behaviors? "This is for adoption!" "Yeah...sure!" Hmmmm......

Anyway, would you please spend some time in prayer over the course of the rest of today and tomorrow on our behalf? We'll let you know what we know when they tell us what went down!

An Audience with the Director

Our facilitator had the meeting on Monday and it led him to ask us to prepare a letter regarding our second referral. Here's the letter we just faxed to our facilitator in Ukraine:

We, David Lee Holland and Gina De Ann Holland, petition the State Department for Adoption and Protection of Children’s Rights of Ukraine to grant us a second appointment when a child or children who match our specific request are available. We are requesting, specifically:

• Girl with minor, correctible medical needs
• Age 14-36 months

We respectfully ask that you do not invite us for a second appointment until a child matching this request is available. We already traveled to Kiev for our first appointment at the State Department for Adoption on December 5th, 2007, during which we were shown only unhealthy children that did not match our request. We incurred multiple thousands of dollars in cost, spent much time and energy preparing for and being away from our employment, and expended much effort to prepare our child to be out of school to travel with us during our first visit. We do not want to incur further cost and effort for a second referral if we will not be able to adopt a child that matches our request.

Thank you for considering this request as you schedule our second appointment.

Our facilitator will be requesting a meeting with the director of the State Department of Adoption to explain our situation and hand this letter off to him/her.

Here's a verse that captures the heart of what we're praying for in regards to this second appointment: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21.

Would you please join us in praying that everything goes even better than we could ask or imagine during the meeting, for our second referral, and for our second trip to finally go meet her and finish up the process to complete the adoption so in the end it's obvious that God did an amazing work and we all look to Him and give Him glory?

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you're reading this, it's a huge encouragement to us to read your comments. It helps us know who is tracking with us. It's easy to sign up for an account so you can post responses. Thanks!

New Info

Here's the latest from our family coordinator at the adoption agency we're going through. Continued "good news" from Ukraine!

Dear Ukraine Families,

America World received an initial reports today based on a meeting that occurred at the SDA that the previously announced 2008 quota would be abolished in it’s current form. Currently the 2008 quota is broken down by country and by age of children. The quota may be changed to be one total number for 2008, without specification for how many dossiers any one country can submit and for any particular age range. The total number for 2008 may be 1500. I would stress that this is initial information and is subject to change at any time, especially as new leadership is expected within the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports.

I would continue to expect potential difficulties and delays for families seeking to adopt children under 6 years old due to availability. There are currently 125 families reported to be waiting for second appointments, the majority seeking to adopt children under age 4. It is anticipated that these families will be invited back to the SDA for a second appointment between January 14, 2008 and February 29, 2008. This again is initial information.

I would stress that this is information as of today. We do not know what the future will look like in reality. We would strongly encourage families in the Ukraine program to consider their flexibility in the age and health of children.

Keep praying for us. We're supposed to find out more info on Monday when our in-country facilitator meets with some officials at the State Department of Adoption. We'll keep you posted regarding what we find out!

Our Kiev Crib!

Check out our digs while we were in Kiev!

Delta Flight #89, 137, and 4923

We started the journey back home on Saturday @ 12:30 Kiev time (4:30 a.m. central). We touched down in Omaha about 30 hours later at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning. We did have a 6 hour break in there and were able to catch some Z's at the ATL Embassy Suites thanks to our good friends the Giambattistas cashing in some hotel points to give our heads a place to rest (thanks guys for your extreme generosity...we were weary travelers to say the least and that helped clear the fog! You guys are amazing friends!).

It was rough getting out there, rough getting back, but we're home now and will begin the wait for the second appointment. We were told at the SDA that there were about 100 families ahead of us awaiting a referral for a child in our age range and could expect to wait 1-3 months. Not the most ideal situation, but that's what we've been dealt so we'll deal with it. The second appointment is supposed to match us up with a child that more closely resembles what we put in our documents (14-36 month old girl with minor, correctable health issues). So, we'll be praying hard for this to be a good referral.

We're all wiped out right now. Davi went to bed this evening at 4:45...we're headed that way right now even though it's only 6:30. We're all excited that we get to spend Christmas at home, but really wish that we had our other little girl with us to share in the memories. Next year, I guess. Davi is also anxious to go to school tomorrow and see her friends. Plus, they're having pancakes for lunch...one of her favorites!

Before I sign off, let me leave you with a few things we learned along the way in our travels:

* Your weight limit on luggage is 50 lbs per piece of luggage...domestic or international. We made it through Omaha and Kiev with no problem, but the fine Delta reps in Atlanta slapped us with a $50 charge for our ginormous bag. They wouldn't cut us any slack! My advice, take it or leave it, take smaller suitcases and use your 2 checked baggage limit. Your wallet and your back with thank you for it in the long run anyway!

* Don't forget your cell phone at home when you're traveling...ever! My discovery during this trip is that pay phones at airports have a horrible tendency to make you think they work. If you must use a pay phone when traveling...call the operator first the make sure the handset works before you dial in with your phone card. That nifty little trick just saved you $1.56 surcharge for using a pay phone!

* If your traveling to Kiev don't ask for too much ketchup at McDonald's! They don't just hand it out there or allow you to squirt it in those little buckets like here. You pay for it there...about a quarter for the equivalent of 2 little packets. Oh, they don't do refills either.

Well, guess that's it for now. We'll keep you posted on what's going on. Check back soon for a little video of the trip! Until next time...

Rebook!

OK, our suspicions were right. Our facilitator, Yuri, called the orphanage where the little 2 1/2 year old is and she does have fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and two other families had visited her in the past months and declined to take the referral. The other little 4 year old was referred to a couple from Spain this morning. We were relieved b/c we did not think she was healthy either and we didn't want to load up for an 8 hour train ride each way to discover what the medical report revealed anyhow (she had FAS and micro-enchaphaly, etc. in her file).

So, we met with Yuri today and wrote out a letter requesting a second referral clearly spelling out what we're looking for in a child. The current trend has been that families get a child that closely matches their request with minor, correctable health issues on the second referral. But, if you reject the second referral (whether a good one or not), that's your last shot. The expected wait time is 1-3 months. The sticky part is Ukraine is apparently not allowing families to update paperwork any longer which means we would have to travel before March b/c that's when the paperwork starts expiring.

So, we went to the Delta office a few minutes ago and we fly out of Kiev on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. to New York. We have a flight to Atlanta from there, but have to stay the night in ATL and then we head home to Omaha and arrive @ 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.

So...the wait continues. We'll keep you posted on what's up. Back to trying to find what's acceptable to eat and brushing our teeth with bottled water for another day!

To Mrs. Sweetman's Kindergarten Class

Hello from Davi!

She is starting to feel better from her cold but sure misses you guys! We're not as fun to play with as you guys are. I'm sure she misses eating lunch with you, playing on the playground, and all the Christmas fun things you guys are doing. When we get a chance we'll try to send a postcard from where we are so you can see what it's like here. The weather is like Omaha except it has been cloudy and foggy the whole time, along with the colder weather.

Here's one crazy fact for you...she was on ONE plane ride for the same amount of time from when you start school until you get out. That plane ride was from New York City to Budapest, Hungary! I'm sure Mrs. Sweetman can show you where those places are! Have fun!