The Rogers Family

Two years ago today!

2010-09-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today, we came home from Ukraine with two new members of our family. It has certainly been a journey for all of us. Learning how to speak and write english. Being in a family that really loves them. Getting a lot of new friends at school and church. Taking up new interests like, skiing, sledding, water skiing, jet skiing, wake boarding, piano, break dance, soccer (of course), biking, driving, chores, getting good grades in school; which is the last thing on their list of liking to do! It's been an emotional roller coaster these past few years. We have learned a lot about ourselves, and what we are capable of. Mostly we learned how to be a lot more patient and to love unconditionally. I just look at them sometimes, and it amazes me that they haven't been with us all of their lives.

Team Ukraine 1st video

2010-01-13T18:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, I was able to upload this video. It is really small however, so you can't really tell which boy is which very well. You can get a good indication of how they are all playing though. Get your readers on, and have a look see!

Kick It!

2010-01-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

Team Ukraine is back, in full force! The boys were all so excited to be playing together again. They are so fun to watch. They haven't had one practice, but they know each other so well, that it didn't matter. They played great for not being practiced. They played a team that Andrew Garrett is a member of in the spring. Every time Andrew scored, the fans of the other team kept saying "It just isn't fair!" It was funny, and light hearted. We tied 4 to 4. Not bad for our first game! GO TEAM UKRAINE!!!

I will try and load the video, but I think it will be too big. It's just ov

er six minutes long. I have uploaded it to youtube, but they took out the audio, due to infringement issues. It is not as fun to view that way. I don't mean to break any laws, it's just more fun to watch with a great song. I didn't think it was even that popular!?!

Grateful!

2009-11-30T08:12:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to send out a gratitude post to all of you. Your love and concern through e-mails and comments, have been so greatly appreciated. I really don't think I would have come through this as well as I did without it. I have always said that I have met some of the best people through SAC, and it becomes more apparent as time goes on. You are amazing people, for what you have taken on in your lives. I hope you know the effect you have on the people around you. I feel truly privileged to know you.

Thanksgiving was great. We were all able to sit down at the same table, and share what we are most grateful for. Family was at the top of everyone's list. We took some fun pictures, that I have posted on my facebook. I have posted a few here, for those who are not on facebook.

Oh, and if I don't write until after the holidays, I have a message for all who celebrate the birth of Christ. A Merry Christmas to you, and happy holiday's to everyone else.

Sasha had his 15th birthday at Classic Skate. He had a great time!

The Currant Bush

2009-11-22T23:32:00.000-08:00

I know, I said last week that I would update, but things got a little crazy again. It is 12:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. I thought it would be a good time to write, and not waste anymore time trying to fall asleep. I have been having a difficult time trying to write about this experience. Every time I tried something would come up, or I just couldn't find the right words.

Hopefully it will make some sense.

As you know, we hosted a boy from Ukraine. He is 11 and so very cute. My boys have been a handful, and basically I was insane for even thinking I could host again. Families were dropping out at the last minute, and the funding wasn't there to take all of the kids that Nanette wanted to bring over. He was one of the kids that had to be cut. Kent didn't think it was a good idea for us to host, and either did anyone in my family. Still, I felt like I needed to host him.

As last minute funding came through, and he was put back on the list, I felt like he was meant to come to America and have a chance at a real family. I agreed to host him, with a feeling that we were going to find him a family.

Of course, when he got here, he got along great with the boys, and he was a lot of fun to have around. We never got an overwhelming feeling that he was ours though, and by the end of the hosting program I was in full panic mode. There were other families that were interested in him, but they didn't seem right to me, and I couldn't let him go.

Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us, and he had a definite plan for this boy. A family came along at the last minute, that I felt was the right family for him. I was attached to him, but all along I felt numb to my feelings for him so that I could let him go. In just a day, they fell in love with him and wanted him.

It was a hard day at the airport saying good-bye. He ran up to me and hugged me so tight. We took a picture and he started to cry, which in turn made me start to cry. We just sat there for a minute, hugging and crying. I had to let him go and all the numbness I had felt during the week wore off. I was at a complete loss to my real feelings and what I knew I needed to do. I just promised him that everything would be all right, and that so many people fell in love with him. That he was such a lucky boy, and was going to have a really great family someday soon.

It was one of the most heart wrenching things I have ever had to do. I cried off and on, for under a week after he left. I do know that we have experiences in our lives for a reason. That they are for our growth, even though it hurts like hell. {Sorry, but it did} I'm so grateful for being able to be his mom for two and half weeks, and for all of my kids to have a little brother. I think we all learned a lot from this experience.

I didn't want to list his name and go into great detail about those weeks. I did want to share these pictures, however. It took me awhile before I could even look at them. Now, I feel like I can just confront my feelings head on, and that makes me stronger.

Nanette, how do you do this every year?

As time goes by.....

2009-11-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all. It has been about 5 months since I last posted. Yes, it has been very busy, and I found myself taking on more then I should have. However, it is stuff that I would do again, just for the rewards that they have brought. I will try and do little updates as the week goes on. it is just too much information for one entry.

First the boys have been doing great. Summer was pretty busy for them with tutoring, just making sure that they were retaining everything they learned from the last school year. They have made a lot of friends and are for the most part happy boys. (Well, as far as teenage boys can be!)

Save a Child Foundation just had their Hosting Program this past 2 1/2 weeks. It was very successful, and I think most every family had an amazing experience. This is all I can report right now. I still need time to gather my thoughts, as I had a very overwhelming experience both good and bad. The Boys were great at translating, and didn't complain too much when they had to do it.

My girls are doing well. Lauren is at UVU having a good experience her first year of collage. Cat is trying out for the school basketball team, even though she is sick today. Maddie is at UVCC going to Cosmetology school, and is loving it. She also did another pageant, which is giving her tremendous self esteem and confidence.

Here she is singing "Put Your Records On" for her talent.

Again, I will post updates later on this week of our summer and fall so far. I have got a lot of pictures and videos, as to not make it a totally boring experience for you!

Just Dance!

2009-05-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

Cat, Artem and Sasha are in the Temple Celebration Program tomorrow night at the Conference Center. It was a huge effort for multiple regions, to put this all together. It was an even a bigger effort to get the boys to dance! At first I bribed them with more computer time. That didn't turn out so great. When their schedule's got too busy, is when they couldn't even get on the computer. That was when we had to pull out the; "You're going to dance because, I'm the Mom, and I say so!" I know that they will be glad someday when pigs fly, but for now I think that it has been a fun experience for them. I have caught them having a good time with their friends, so I know all the pleading, prodding, yelling, screaming, kicking, fighting, was well worth it! Cat was even having bouts of "I don't want to's," until she got herself a partner for the dance. A very cute partner. The boys were okay until they got cute partners for the dance. They have a lot of growing up to do in the maturity department. I must say though, that they are so dang cute dancing!

You may be able to see them in the on stage performance if you look hard enough. We had to tape that performance for our stake, so I couldn't let my kids get all the glory!

In other news, my oldest Maddie was in the Miss Sandy Pageant. She did this all on her own, and I was so proud of her for doing so. She has never been able to perform in front of people very well. She didn't even speak in church, when we all had to speak as a family. She was too uptight about it. To do this Pageant she had to really step out of her comfort zone. It was a fun night for her. Although, she didn't win Miss Sandy, she did win a $2,500 modeling contract with Urban Talent Management. Here are some highlights of the pageant. Way to go Maddie!

Hey time, slow down, you move too fast!

2009-05-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

This month has been ridiculously busy. With one Daughter graduating High School, to another Daughter participating in the Miss Sandy Pageant, and three other teens trying to pass their classes at the end of the year. It has been overwhelming busy. Today, however, seems to be a quite one. No real deadlines to meet this week, so were good for this morning.

Now to catch up! It was great to meet and greet one of the families that just came back from Ukraine with their new 3 teenaged Daughters. (Yes, you read it right!) They are beautiful girls, and we are so happy for them.

Sasha is getting so tall! He is still growing too! He and Artem are the same height and weight, and he is a year younger!

I couldn't stay long. As part of a great Mother's Day, Kent took me to the Eagles Concert (which was amazing!)

Here is a small glimpse of the concert.

The Kids were also so great this year. They went out with their own money and bought me fun gifts. The boys both got me these funny cards, and wrote some very tender things in them. That was the best gift from them, and all I could have asked for. Lauren got me a Willow Tree figurine of a Mother and Daughter, chocolate covered gummy bears, (my favorite), and a white chocolate caramel apple!

Maddie and Cat walked into my bedroom with a tray of food and Edward Cullen! Who could ask for anything more! It scared me to death. I wasn't at all prepared to be receiving any guests, let alone Edward Cullen!

The boys got their braces finally! Sasha has been asking for them, since he got here. Artem didn't think that he needed them. I didn't either until I had them both looked at by our Orthodontist. It was way obvious that Sasha need them. He had teeth growing out of the roof of his mouth. He had one removed, and the other one needs to be pushed into place. Artem has pretty straight teeth, but had a very pronounced overbite, and his jaw line was set way back, which made so he looked like he didn't have much of a chin if you looked at him from the side.

Sasha will have his braces much longer then Artem. He would not let me take a picture of them. Sorry folks!

Sasha only got braces on the top teeth, which requires a lot more work then the bottom teeth. He will get his bottoms ones later on. He will have his braces for about 4 years!

Artem got the whole shebang! Braces, top and bottom and a herps! A herps is a little contraption that orthodontist are using instead of headgear. It is correcting his overbite and giving him a more pronounced jaw line. It looks really good. It doesn't feel good though, and he wonders why he even needs it. You know, they don't need braces in Ukraine! Artem will only have to wear his braces for about a year. Thats a very short time for you and me, but for a 15 year old teen aged boy, it's an eternity!

They are still hurting and can't eat a whole lot. I have been making scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and cup cakes. Yummy! I shredded up some barbecued chicken last night, and they scarfed it down. They were so hungry.

Lastly, Kent and I and some friends of ours, rode in the Salt Lake Century ride on Saturday. Kent is getting ready for the LOTOJA race in September. It is a bike race from Logan Utah, to Jackson Hole Wyoming and is 203 miles long! He has to finish it in one day. I'm getting ready for the Little Red Riding Hood ride in Logan. I'm attempting to do 100 miles this year. I only did the 36 miler last year. My friend Jen and I, were only going to do 67 miles in the Century, but she got a wild hair and wanted to go as far as we possibly could. I knew I wasn't ready for anything more then 40. I wasn't even sure I could go 67. By the time I finished I had completed 94 Miles! I couldn't believe it! After running into a parked truck on the Tuesday before, with a jammed up arm and a jammed up bike, I was still able to ride on Saturday, and do more miles than I had ever done in my life! WOW. I don't even have to mention how sore I am now! Looking back it was quite fun though.

Over all it has been a pretty good month so far. Keeping really busy helps with the kids not getting so bored! I don't know what I'm going to do with them for the Summer. The boys will see Inna through the Summer. I don't want them to get lazy with their English skills they have learned so far. They don't want to do it, but too bad! They will thank me someday, just not anytime soon though.

Taking A Time Out

2009-04-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hello all! It has been a while. I have just been enjoying reading other blogs, that I haven't really felt like writing in mine. Having said that, it is not entirely true. Artem told me that he didn't like to be the focus of my blogs, and would rather not be in them. Of course, I'm putting it nicer then he did. Even if I'm saying positive things, he doesn't want the attention. Well, I have been thinking about it over these last several weeks, and I don't care! Artem, you will have to get used to the fact that your Mother likes to talk and brag about you. Sasha doesn't mind it, but he is always eager for the attention.

So here it goes. This month has been bipolar. Just as Katy Perry's song said. You're hot and you're cold, you're yes and you're no, you're in and you're out, you're up and you're down. You're wrong when it's right, it's black and it's white, we fight, we brake up. We kiss, we make up! You! You don't really want to stay, no! But you don't really want to go, oh!

Yes, we had the "If you don't like the rules, and if you can't abide by them, we will gladly send you back to Ukraine where you were so happy!" I promised myself I would never say that, but they put that dang straw on my back, and I lost it! However, it did make me see how much they really like it here. That they really like the rules, but put up a stink because they are teenagers and that is their job. When it comes to reading time, they fight with me tooth and nail. When they settle down and finally read, I think they really enjoy it. Not the reading as much as the fact that we are devoting our time to them. This is what they crave! Me too!

I must say, that Artem had me in tears this past weekend. He tries to be "The Man" at 15, and doesn't need a Mom telling him how to live his life. Even though I just want to help him live his age! They tell me stories all the time of how they needed to fight for their place at the internat. It is similar here in our schools, only they talk it out before they fight. Artem said that in Ukraine there is no talkin', just boom, smack down, may the best man win, kind of thing. Oh, I might add that it would help if they had a stick or some kind of a bat! Then they laugh, like it's funny. There is no feeling of "Man that was harsh" or "It would scare the snot out of me!"

Everything violent is funny to them, and that scares the snot out of me! They are very non-violent kids in their actions though. Last night, they were both wrestling with Cat, but being very careful not to really hurt her. Artem and Sasha both don't like our dog too much because Ike bites their heels when they try and leave, and barks at them. But Artem feeds him everyday, and worries about him being outside in the cold. Sasha wants to sell, kill, lose him, so he jokes, but plays with him all the time. You can really tell kids temperaments by the way they treat animals. Bottom line, they both are very gentle, kind boys. They are just all talk, to get a reaction out of us.

Jorgensen, Wendelbos, and us, took a time out, and went to St. George for their spring break. It was the boy's first real vacation, and they had a blast! So did we. What great families we were with. It is all because of Save A Child Foundation and these boys. I've said that there are some amazing people in this organization, and it just keeps getting better. The friendships I have made alone have been so worth while, and are a huge part of my life now. You guys are awesome. I couldn't do these kids without all of your support and love.

Jog Blog!

2009-03-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Oh, if only I could blog when I jog. Those joggers out there know exactly what I mean. My thoughts as I jog come to me so clearly, and make so much sense. By the time I come home all sweaty and shaky. Not only do I collapse, but so does my brain! I can't say or write anything that made so much sense to me 30 minutes ago. If only I could put a memory card in my head. (Hey I may be on to something!)

I haven't blogged in a while, out of concern for the families that are in, and are going to Ukraine in the next while. I have been so broken hearted for them that I can't write. Unaffected, however; is the fact that my kids still drive me insane. I didn't want to write my frustrations while the others were in distress over their kids. I'm still keeping the faith for them, but I can't hold my feelings in any longer. I either blog about it, or take it out on them, like I have been doing for the last two weeks. So far, I'm pretty sure I'm out of the running for "Mother Of The Year!"

I'm going to try and put a few thoughts over the last two weeks together, so this isn't too drawn out.

Cutting to the chase. All of my kids are driving me insane! I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. I think having one move back in, after being on her own for a year, has certainly put me over the edge. It hasn't been that bad, but combining that with 4 other strong minded teenagers is really overwhelming. All I want them to ever do, is go to school, and let me be feel free for a couple hours. (Okay, now every Mom here knows exactly what I mean!)

Here is a sample of an e-mail that I had been venting on, while taking a break from blogging. Just to show you how I got in to this insanity. Sorry, if this is offensive to anyone. It is not my intention.

"I need my boys to find something to do after school, they are driving me bananas! "Mom, I need a new computer, this one sucks! Mom, I need a job. Mom, I need money. Mom, I want to go to Jordan High School, Brighton is gay. Mom, I'm sick. Mom, maybe no school. Mom, I hate Mr. ?????? He is (well you name it, and more) Mom, Cat's not doing her jobs. Mom, Cat's not doing anything. Mom, I need new shoes. Mom, I can wear these shirts. Too small. Too short. Mom, I know English. Mom, but I don't know English. Mom, I lost this. Mom, I broke that. Mom, the teacher took it away. Mom the bus driver is gay. Mom reading is gay." That and more was said in one day! They need to find another word for gay! It is just so politically incorrect.

Yesterday, I took them to get their hair cut, from a friend of mine that also adopted from Ukraine. I guess Artem was listening to our conversation, because he repeated it word for word when he got frustrated with me last night while reading. He has a very heavy accent when he speaks, and I was just trying to get him to say the words correctly. He wanted to speed read though the whole book. I kept slowing him down, and he kept getting distracted. I thirsty. I need drink. I said No, I am thirsty, I need "A" drink! He smiled and said "Yeah, you need, I get!" thinking he is so funny. He is suppose to read for thirty minutes straight, but that isn't working lately with all of his distractions, so I have been making him read to a certain point in the book. Well he thinks it's still 30 minutes and looks at his watch the whole time anyway.

He then pops up and says "OKAY, 30 minutes, I go!" Of course, I make him sit down and we argue for another 30 minutes, why he is wasting time. He knows who will win, as we are sitting there doing nothing. I then tell him that I'm going to start to hug and kiss him if this continues any longer. "I hate my life! I want to go back to Ukraine!" - Excuse me? I don't think so buddy! I chased him up the stairs and he was laughing. "Mom, I joke!" Okay two can play at that game. I said in my saddest voice "Oh, you don't like us anymore, that makes me so sad." I start to play cry in my hands. He comes up to me, and says "Mom, I joke, I joke!" I looked up at him and said "NO! It's Mom, I am JOKING!" I grabbed him and gave him a nuggy and a bear hug! That is bonding at it's finest! He loves it, I can tell. He will give me that knock out smile of his, and I know that he loves me.

Let face it, they do drive me crazy, but those moments are priceless, and worth every gray hair and laugh line. Sasha comes home almost everyday, and gives me a great big hug, tells me that I'm his Mom, and that he loves me! (Try not to cry folks!) My girls and I will have our little chat sessions, and its great! It's just enough to get me out of bed in the morning!

Another Day, Another Dollar! (or $100.00)

2009-03-02T19:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a good day for a Monday. I took the kids to their tutor, and we had a good talk while driving the 20 miles or so to get there. It was either a fairly mellow day for them, or I'm mellowing out! They still are for the most part, great kids. They just don't appreciate what they have here still. They say that school is so boring, because it is so easy. (They say this about everything mind you.)

They had their last soccer game last Saturday. I reminded them that they were playing the only team that beat them, and that they better get their game faces on. Sasha just laughed and said, "Oh Mom, It's easy!" That's when I knew, they were done for. I was right, as a mother always is;-). They lost 3 to 7. Oh well, they had fun, and were in pretty good spirits afterwards. It is so great to see them together on that field. Home at last, with their "Brothers." I can't express enough, that with this team, it is not the winning that counts. It is seeing them all together as a "family team." It's pretty amazing that they are all here.

I got a really nice e-mail from Cindy yesterday. She is doing really well, despite the fact she adopted 3 teenage girls at the prime of puberty. Your a super woman Cindy! I know for a fact now, that teenaged girls are a lot harder then teenaged boys! She said something that really struck hard with me. When the kids don't seem to appreciate all the things that we have done for them, don't you think our Father in Heaven feels the same way when we don't talk with him on a daily basis. I know that I forget to pray a lot these days. I will put it off, until I have a free moment at times. I remember the night that we brought them home from the airport when we hosted them. I fell on my knees and just cried to him, I was so grateful that I had such a rare opportunity to take care of such beautiful good boys. Now it seems that I take it for granted. I still feel so incredibly blessed to be able to be their Mom. Thanks Cindy for that little reminder. We miss you at our lunches.

The boys are also growing like weeds. It's just been a little over 5 months and they have grown out of just about everything! Of course, they now want to wear what everyone else is wearing. I can't get away with the D.I. anymore. It is a good thing that most of the store's have such amazing deals right now. These kids aren't cheap!

The Keller's are leaving tomorrow for Ukraine to pick up their kids. I wish them a safe arrival, and hope they have a wonderful experience there. Good luck with everything Kellers!

For fun!

2009-02-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

I am finally working on my video that I took in Ukraine. I have 5 hours of tape to go through. I had put together a little bit of it, to show to the boys ESL Coordinator. Thought I would post it to give you a little preview of what went on over there!

And the word is still "NO"

2009-02-26T15:57:00.000-08:00

Oh, it's been a shaky week. I think the boys find their independence more when Dad's not around. We got into it again today, in the car on our way to the tutors. Artem declares that 9th grade in Middle school is easier than 9th grade in High school.

~How in the world can you know that? What? You have only been here for 5 months.

~My friends tell me.

~Really, and how would they know?

~They know!

~They have the same 9th grade books. It's the same lessons. How much harder is that?

~It's harder!

~It's the same!

~No

~Artem, give me a reason why it is harder?

~No

~Then I'm right!

~No

~Artem, how long have I lived here in America? How long have you? It is pretty much the same!

~No

I try to explain again, and he cuts me off with No! No! No! Then Sasha decides to join in on the fun-

~No Mom, it's harder!

I yelled back to him, now don't you start in. I have had it with you saying no all the time! Stop it, before you two drive me insane. Or, is that your evil plan for me?

~NO!

Okay, so after a while in total silence in the car, I dropped them off like little hot potatoes, and drive off. Normally, I stay with them. I was so mad!

After I washed my car, and cooled down, I went back to the tutors, and walked in to find Sasha doing work on the table, while Artem had his one on one time with Inna. He looked up at me, with a big smile on his face and said, "Hi Mom. That kid doesn't hold any grudges. He forgets within an hour. It is a good quality to have. I gave him a hug, and asked him if he needed any help.

Artem too, when he saw me, gave me a big smile and a "Hi Mom." I don't know why I get so mad at them. Most of the time, it's over such trivial matters, but it happens all the time.

I do need to add that when I talked with Sasha the next day, after our big argument. I told him that it really hurt me that he would want to throw away those letters. It made him feel really bad, but said, why does it matter, we are here with you now. We don't need those letters. I told him he was right, but they hold sentimental value to me. He really didn't know what that meant, so I just dropped it. His English is getting so good, that it make's up for everything else.

I then remember something that happen last week. He came running in the house after school, yelling "Mom. Mom." I thought something was wrong, he sounded so urgent. "What's wrong Sasha?" ~ "Nothing!" He then gave me a tight hug, looked up at me, and said "Your my Mom! I love you!" He said it twice in that order. " I told him, that I was always going to be his Mom, and that would never change.

That was a good moment! I need to keep that thought close. Mostly when he is saying "NO!"

Thanks for all of your comments. Keep the advice coming. Mostly, it makes me laugh, and that is the medicine.

What the hay?

2009-02-24T01:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I just posted this great up beat entry. Thrilled about the soccer team, and how well they are doing. Basically on a high, thinking life ain't so bad. It is amazing how it can turn so ugly! Testing my abilities as a good Mother, are my wonderful teenage kids. When Dad's away, the kids will play with Mom. The game isn't always fair though.

This morning was very good. I took the boy's to their tutor, which normally turns out to be a big argument by the end of the session. She told me that she was very proud of the boys, and that they really worked hard today. I thought to myself, finally, now we are getting somewhere. We had a great conversation on the drive back to school, laughing and joking all the way. Then I got home.

My oldest has moved back in, and it has been quite an adjustment for both of us. She is used to doing what she wants, and I'm used to telling her what is best. That never makes for good conversation at the end of the day. I'm harsh, I'll admit, and I need to back off. This always ends up with the volcano effect, and you mothers know exactly what I am talking about. It's going to erupt sooner or later. I opted for later, and kept myself busy getting a video done.

We had a nice dinner, and my two oldest went out. Cat and the boys did what homework they had, and then a little free time. At 9:00, they read. Sound reasonable right. Not to Sasha. That is when the night went horribly wrong. He sat in Cat's chair and made it his own. Cat got mad, and I took her side. She just got up for a drink. He said that Cat can sit somewhere else! "Really, your serious?" I made him get up and find another spot to read. He was bugged, but did it. When he was done, he went to his room and found that his dresser was gone. He came running down the stairs stating "Mom. my dresser, where?

I reminded him that Maddie had asked both of them, if she could use it yesterday. He and Artem, told her she could. "Yeah, but that was just two drawers!" Of course this is highly unfair, because you know, I am now favoring my girls again, and it's not fair to the boys that come from a different land. I was telling him how we can work it out. He just turned walked away from me. I told him to come back. Nothing. I heard him down the hall. Again, Sasha come back here while I'm talking to you! Nothing! I hear him going up the stairs. At this point I'm yelling, Sasha come back here! I hear him upstairs heading towards his room. (Remember that volcano that I so reasonably saved for later? Yeah........

I let him have it (verbally, of course) He sat there and took it. Every word bouncing off him like a rubber ball banging against my forehead. I told him the small about of underwear and PJ's that he kept in that dresser, can easily fit into his closet with no problem. He jumps up and said good. With that he went in his closet, took some box's out that were Maddie's, and some other stuff I had stored in there. (They each have a big closet by the way, which isn't even nearly full) He started handing me stuff, and I gladly took it out. Then he handed me a shoe box. I asked what was in it. He said that it didn't matter, it wasn't his. I opened it to find all of the letters we had written to them while they were in Ukraine. Shocked, I asked him if he really wanted them thrown out? "Yes, I don't need them anymore. You see, no problem!" Talk about a knife through your heart. I calmly asked him again, if he was sure. He said he was, and I said fine. They are just papers. Talk about being spiteful, but OUCH! That hurt!

Going to bed angry is not a good thing. I just didn't know what else to do. Of course, he is sleeping soundly, while I'm up at three o'clock in the morning surfing the internet! I have been sick for more then a week, with little sleep at night. I need sleep. I have compared this adoption thing with having a baby. I waited more then 9 months to get them here, and now I have to stay up at night with them. The funny thing with Sasha is, that he will forget all about this in the morning, and I will carry it the rest of the week. Mostly in the bags under my eyes.

Oh, kids can do so many heinous things to you, but I guess that's what makes us who we are. MOMS!

Far From Over

2009-02-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

Busy, Busy. Kent had taken Sasha on a scout overnighter, with skiing the next day. Artem opted not to go, to play soccer instead. We had a big crowd there to watch them. I guess I have been giving the team a lot of hype, and they wanted to see what the big deal was. The team didn't fail to impress! My family was debating weather or not to go. It's all the way out in Bountiful for crying out loud! Who has that kind of time? By the end of the first game, my sister was saying, "We should go to the Real games!" I replied "Are you kidding me?" besides - not as much fun!

They won both of their games again. But that is not really the point here. Not for the parents anyway; for them it is.

Ha Ha! I don't know what it is about seeing these kids play as a team together. I absolutely love to watch their intensity. You can feel the connection they all have to one another. Even the ones that didn't know each other in Ukraine. I thought it was just the parents, but it was the others as well that made comments about it.

I have entitled this video "Far From Over" because even though they have their last game this Saturday, their connection with each other is far from over!

What a kick!

2009-02-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, team Ukraine had a double header in soccer. They won both games! The first game was 18 to 0. The second game was 5 to 3. They had a blast. There was a set back though. One of the boys broke his pelvis, while trying to make a goal. The moment is captured on this video. I hope it isn't too up setting for some to see. It doesn't really look like much. It is the only clip that is in slow motion. I debated about putting it in, but in the end, I thought that he would like to see it! These kids are so tuff. I talked with him after the game, and asked if he was in much pain. He said he was, but he didn't seem too bothered by it. I thought that he might have just pulled a hamstring.

Just so you know, my Sasha had 4 goals! He told me that the 4th one didn't count because it was really Ruslan's kick that bounced off his leg though the goal. He is giving that one to him, so it was really 3 goals. My Artem had some really great blocks too, so I was a very proud Mom!

2009-02-09T22:25:00.000-08:00

While I was going through my video's, I found this one. It is of the hosting families for 2008. I thought that some of you may like to see it. I have a lot more footage, but I will post it at a later time. This was right before they came down the escalators to meet their hosting families. They were all so darling, it made me want to do it all again!

They never said anything about the tuff times!

2009-02-04T20:08:00.001-08:00

First off, let me say how much I love Artem and Sasha! I don't mean to be negative at all, but they can be so hard. School is very tedious to them. I just had an ESL meeting with all of their teachers today, and it wasn't pretty. What it all comes down to, is that they are getting lazy with the work they have to do in class. They say they don't understand, when they do, just to get out of doing it. I know, typical teenager. Well, after the meeting, when we got home, I put them to work on getting caught up. It was very overwhelming for all of us. We took away their computer hour, until they get caught up. (That is what these boys live for.) I asked them where they would rather be right now, here or Ukraine? They replied, here! I told them that from the beginning we have been giving them everything, love, family, home, clothes, food. I was going on, and on. I even have them watch me, when I pay cash for their tutor! I want them to appreciate not only the time and love we give them, but what it costs us to have them tutored. Everything cost money, and they need to learn how to earn money, so when the time comes, they can take care of their own families. They aren't thinking that far ahead, but they did say that they are just going to live with us forever! LOL! We have been trying so hard to help in the transition of coming to America. I know it's hard. I can't imagine what it is like for them, but come on, they have to want it too. I told them, it will be a lot of hard work. They can complain all they want, but it won't change the fact that they have to learn. I'm so frustrated right now, but it's okay. They are good kids, and their teachers really like them. They didn't like me up until an hour ago. Artem came into my office, with a big smile, and that just melted my heart. We played Wii, which in my opinion, is a great bonding tool. Bottom line; I think they want us to be tuff on them. It shows them how much we care about them. They are getting English, and are speaking it more everyday. They are happy, well adjusted kids.

Thanks for all of your comments. I was just reading them tonight. It really helps keep my spirits up, when things get a little ugly. When they weren't with us, I mostly thought of the good times we would have. I knew that this wouldn't be easy, I just didn't know that it would be so tuff. Their ours, and they were meant to be with us. I will take the good with the bad, and stop complaining. I'm so grateful that they are here, and they have really blessed all of our lives.

2009-02-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

Here is the video of team Ukraine. If you have trouble viewing the video go to my you-tube site. Search "cutetallgirl." (No, I did not come up with that name, but I don't want to change it at this point)

I have removed this video to make room for the latest one. You can still view it on You-tube. It has a much better picture at that site.

A Double Day

2009-02-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

The boy's had a soccer game, and Cat had a cheer competition. I was able to make both. I had my video camera this time! The boy's did well. They won there game 3 to 1. I have footage that I will post soon. I have to cut and paste that together, so as to just get in all the high lights!

Cat did very well on her cheer as well. They had some bopples and dropped one flyer, but overall they did really good. Cat stuck all of her double back hand springs, and caught her flyer. Go Ignite!

View the video on You tube.

"Soccer" to me!

2009-01-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

The Carr's put a indoor soccer team together for most of the boys from Ukraine. We have a great team, and it is so fun to watch them play. This past Saturday they played a very good older team (that beat a previous team we tied with 15 to 2.) In the first half our boys played really well, and were up 3 - 0. Then in the second half they came back and scored 5! A humbling experience to say the least. They were bigger and better then our boy's, so they did a great job against them.

There was a lot of pushing and words passed during the whole game. It all came to a head at the end of the game, when one of their bigger players shoved our smallest player into the wall. Wrong! Andrew was so mad he kicked the ball at him, and then jumped up and socked him in the face! Very Wrong! It wasn't pretty, especially in the stands.

Everything turned out okay at the end, but it was pretty hilarious when it was all over, to see a 5'3 boy, punch a 5'9 boy in the face. It wasn't right, but what could we do after it was all over but laugh. Oh, how I wish I had my video camera!

Jingle, Jingle!

2008-12-30T09:18:00.000-08:00

This will be more of a picture show then a blogging. This is how our christmas holiday has been so far.

Rogers family christmas party. Anne and John

Kent and Brian Mindy, DeDe, Caroline, Jenna and Jamie
Cat, Sarah, Patrick, John, Lauren, Oliver, Jenna, Mary, Victor
Patrick's Missionary farewell. Michigan bound!

Judd, Fran, Charlie, Ali and Julie

Madeline and Mindy
Maddie, Lauren, and Cat
Ali bird, and Laurencita
Aaron's Missionary homecoming, Mia, Aaron and David.
Arri hugging her nephew
Cat hugging her Cousin.
Aaron just off the plane
Artem, Sasha, Cat and Lauren, waiting, waiting, waiting
Still waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting!
And yet still, waiting, waiting........................
The kids up at the cabin
Rogers Christmas party.
Maddie, Anne, Sarah.
Cat, Arri, Sarah. (Sarah just jumps into all the pictures!)
John and Lauren. (Where's Sarah?)
A Young Men's, Young Women's, Christmas Activity
They had a blast!
Family Christmas picture! No, I didn't get our cards out this year. I tried! At least we took a picture!
My side of the family, Christmas eve party! It was very merry!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was great! We got two very big gifts this year, and they are the best christmas presents we ever received! They had a great time too! Artem said "Santa is a good man!"

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Their Day!

2008-12-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

Our boys were baptized on Saturday the 15th of November. It has taken me this long to get my act together and put the pictures on the blog. It was amazing that they wanted to be baptized so fast. We had an excellent translator that just hit it off with the boys on the first discussion. The boy's had a lot of questions, but after a couple of weeks, they really wanted to be baptized, and were excited about it. It was a great evening. We had a lot of people show up, and the boys thought that was really cool. Thanks again to all that came. It really meant a lot to us.

Catching up, or trying to!

2008-11-26T07:34:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures taken through the time I last blogged.

twilight

2008-11-07T07:18:00.001-08:00

More pictures

2008-11-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

I was successful in putting the Hosting Video on YouTube. You can find it by putting the words "Hosting Save a Child" in the search area.

The boys are playing around at the concert.

Cat and her Friends were glow sticks for Halloween.

Save A Child Foundation

2008-11-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

For the last couple of weeks, the Save a Child Foundation, (with which we found our boys through)had their hosting program. They brought over about 5o kids from Ukraine this year. At the end of the program, they had a benefit concert. Sasha took part in the singing and playing the flute, and I was in charge of a video, made up of families experiences with the hosting program. I will try and put it on YouTube. The file was too big for this blog site. The concert featured America's Jr. Miss Lindsay Britton. And the Osmonds 2nd Generation. It was a great show.

2008-10-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

Howard Stern marries Molly Mormon

Halloween starts early on our street. The YM/YW had a fashion show night. The boys drew girls names and dressed each other up. They has a great time.

Grandma and Grandpa at Maddie's Birthday.
This is what Artem likes for breakfast. Honeycomb cereal, blueberries with chocolate syrup! Yummy! Actually it doesn't look that bad.

One Month! So Far. So Good

2008-10-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

Just catching up! It has been a month since we arrived home from Ukraine. We have had a pretty busy month, and it was hard to find time to up date the blog. Sorry to keep you from our very exciting lives for a whole month, but I see that everyone has survived through it well enough. We are happy to report that the boys are doing really well. They only miss Ukraine "a little bit," so I guess we are on the right track. They seem to like school, and already have good friends there. Catherine being one of them. I already feel out number some times when Lauren is working and Cat is at cheer. Kent has been out numbered since he was born. I don't know how he is still sane. Thanks for hanging in there Kent.

Here are some pictures taken this past month. They will catch you up on what has been happening here.

Maddie had her "Golden" Birthday this month. She turned 19 on the 19th

Here is what you do when you adopt kids from another country. You put them to work, and help them learn english. I took them to the doctor, and the first thing they had to do was to pee in a cup. WELCOME TO AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good to be home!

2008-09-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few more pictures from the airport that my Dad sent to me.

I missed my girls!

Home Sweet Home

2008-09-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

We made it! Home at last. I can't believe that a month has come and gone. The last few weeks were starting to melt together, and it was hard to keep track of them. Thank goodness I kept a journal, because I wouldn't have remember any of it.

We woke up around 6:00 am. Natalie and Valdimir picked up the Hatches and us, and we headed to the airport around 7:30. Everything was fine until I had to say good by to Natalie. I completely lost it! I loved Natalie. It was extremely hard saying good by to a person that you so heavily relied on for a month. Then Valdimir who was so amazing with getting all of our adoption stuff done without any problems. I was so grateful for both of them. It was very hard to detach myself from them.

We got to the check in, and as I thought, our luggage was overweight. Thanks to Kent for packing another bag. We filled it, and just barely come in under the weight restrictions. The Hatch's got through that just fine. When we got to the check your papers place, Julie had packed her documents that she thought she didn't need, and had to wait an hour, before someone said she had to retrieve those documents. She had to pull her checked in bag off the plane, and just made the fight in time. Artem was so worried, that we kept losing him from the gate area, because he was going back to the check in area to see if they were coming.

We were worried too, but we had to get on the flight either way. Sorry Julie! We were praying hard for them, and it turned out fine. The rest of the flight went well. We knew we were back in the states when we saw organized lines. The people in customs were actually nice to us, even in New York! America Rocks!

We were an hour late getting into Salt Lake, but that was okay. We were home! Thanks to all of you who met us there. It was so great to see everyone. The boys were so happy.

Today they got up like they had been here all of their lives. "Good morning, Mom!" I got from them. I made them breakfast, they rode bikes, played x-box, then went to the movies with Cat and her cute friends. Talk about throwing them to the wolfs.

Mostly, it is great to finally have them with us. We feel so blessed to have them be a part of our family.

Last Post in YKPAIHA (Ukraine)

2008-09-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - Our last full day in Ukraine and we're on our way home tomorrow morning!!

Today we hung around our apartment for the morning then found a local store and bought some meat and cheese. We gulped it down and went outside where Natalie had a couple taxis waiting for us to go to the Embassy. The Embassy was full of people waiting to get in and it was really nice as U.S. citizens to walk to the front of the line.

Before going in, an Embassy worker walked up to us and asked if we were the Utah group adopting. He was a young man that grew up in Utah, served a mission in St. Petersburg a few years ago and was doing a 3 month internship. Also, the gentleman that helped us, Dave Allen, was LDS from Josephville, AZ. One of his first questions was, "Are you blue or red?" When I answered red, he said that he wouldn't be able to complete our paperwork for another month! I think I'm the only Utah fan in our group of families although several graduated from the U. What's wrong with people's allegiance these days anyway????

Afterward we walked around Kiev, bought some souvenirs for the girls and had dinner in the underground mall. Walking home tonight we saw Kiev at night for the first time and it was very beautiful. It reminds me of other European cities with the old buildings, a lot of history, modern stores but not nearly the crowds as you find in Paris, Munich, etc.

It's also fun to see how car crazy the boys are. They kept taking pictures of cars they thought were cool. Most were Japanese "rice burners" that had silly paint jobs. They also think Hummers are cool. Sasha told me later that when he's 16, he's sure that's what I'm going to buy him. I think their expectations of America and being part of our family is going to be disappointing in some ways...

We were also running low on Greevnias so Arri and the boys succumbed to a little begging in front of McDonald's. They didn't get too much...

Overall, a great trip. We're getting out under 4 weeks and have met a lot of great people like Vladimir, Natalie, Tanya, Natasha, the branch members in Sumy. And of course, we had GREAT roommates in Brent and Lucinda Milne. It's hard to live with people for 3.5 weeks and they've been so easy and helpful to be with.

For those of you who want to come to the airport, our final leg is from JFK to SLC, Delta flight 97 arriving at 8:11pm on Thursday. The Hatch's will also be on our flight.

So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu...

2008-09-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - We lost our Internet access on Saturday so this will be a quick catch up. We went to church on Sunday and I met David and LeeAnn Luke who drove in from Romny just to go to church. Things are not going well for them and they have yet to get a court date. What a difference a good facilitator makes as well as the willingness of the orphanage people to let you adopt their children.

Sunday we had 3 new elders there. There was an Elder Anderson from Norway who trained the son of a good friend of mine (Elder Devin Shumway). They asked Neil Milne and Todd Heiner to give the sacrament meeting talks and Tanya did the translating. They both did great jobs and there was a great spirit in the meeting.

Sunday we said good-bye to Valeria, fixed lunch back in the apartment and met the boys' Grandma and brother Maxim one last time. Artem and Maxim had a bet that if one of them cried, they'd owe the other $200. So both stayed strong. Grandma and Arri both shed some tears and I was holding back some emotion. We've asked Maxim to come see us in a couple of years as we would like to keep the boys in contact.

While eating, the boys started telling stories about growing up. They were laughing so hard it was really fun to watch. When Natalie translated, it was just silly stuff. They talked about the time they walked to their granmother's house, 30 km away and how during the walk they laughed and joked the whole way. They also talked about the time they had 10 Greevnias (their money) to come into town. When they discovered that only 2 of them could make it, they left Sasha at the village. I'm glad they all could laugh. I think they were trying to hide some sadness of parting.

We left grandma but Maxim walked back to our apartment. They acted like it wasn't a big deal but we could tell he was uptight about the parting.

On Monday, we picked them up from school around 3:00pm and they said good-bye to their friends. It was classic boys. They looked at their friends and said, "Bye!" and walked away. We walked over to Sasha and Austin's teacher's house (Maria) who had the day off. She came out to greet us and she shed some tears. She's a wonderful lady.

The boys just want to play games on the computers. We didn't have enough bed space in our apartmet but we made due (without blankets) and got up this morning around 1:30am to be ready for the bus at 2:30am.

We drove to Kiev and met with the Doctors at 8:00am. We joined the Hatch's and Alan Morgan. The exams took longer than we had hoped and depending on which doctor did the examination, a different requirement was given to each boy. No rules and no consistency. We then rushed to the US Embassy to meet the 12:00noon deadline and hit horrible traffic in the city. At one point, Vladimir hopped out of the Van and was directing traffic. The guy knows how to get things done!

So, we submitted our papers, took finger prints and we go back to the embassy tomorrow at 2:00pm. We all hope that it goes well and we're able to jump on our flights on Thursday morning for the U.S.

By the way, the apartment we got here in Kiev is a large 3 bedroom (they count the front room with a fold out couch as a bedroom) and they have free Internet! Nicest place we've seen here yet!

We're anxious to get home!

Hoppy Beerfday to Juu!

2008-09-19T12:28:00.001-07:00

Saturday, September 20, 2008 - Artem's 15th birthday! Seems like it was just a year ago when we first saw and met our son! :-)

Today we picked up the boys and gave Artem his choice of where he would like to go eat for his birthday celebration. And to our great surprise he said, "McDonald's!" I don't think I'll eat at another McDonald's back in the States for a long, long time. It was packed as usual and took about 30 minutes or more for everyone to order and get their food. I've never seen a McDonald's busier than this one. Artem ordered a coupe of items including fries but Sasha ordered a Big 'n Tasty, Chicken Wrap, 9 piece McNuggets, Fries and a large Sprite. Of course, he had to chase all of that with a Sundae.

We brought the boys and Austin back to our apartment with Natalie and the boys had fun playing on the computers. Arri had brought Artem's gift from the States which was a Nintendo DS Light. He and Sasha both seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.

After, Arri and Lucinda made a Top Ramen soup and added some other vegetables including peas and we were amazed that none of the boys liked the peas. They all made faces and pulled them out of the soup. Then Arri placed matches on Artem's cake (couldn't find candles) and he blew them out very quickly.

Natalie asked Artem if he had a nice birthday and he said, "Yeah. It was a lot better than my 5th and 6th birthdays."

When she asked him why, he said that everyone in his family was drunk on those birthdays. He didn't really laugh and it gave us a little more insight into what he can remember. It will be really good when he learns english and we can talk to him and Sasha better.

The weather warmed up today and all in all another good day. We've learned that we cannot leave Sumy until early Tuesday morning about 3:00am. We'll drive to Kiev to get their medical work done and if all goes well, we'll get to the embassy to get their Passport work started. If we can't get there by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, we will have to postpone our Thursday flights. Keep us in your prayers that we can all get done on Tuesday.

Birth Certificate Day

2008-09-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Today we all went in different directions to get birth certificates. Each family needed a translator and a driver. We finally heard last night that Arri and I would be going with Vladimir and Tanya and we had to be outside the apartment building by 6:45am. I thought that was bad and then I asked what time Brent Milne needed to be ready. Natalie said, "At twelve."

I clarified, "You mean 12:00 noon?"

She said (in her Russian accent), "No-o-o! Twelve o'clock tonight!" Brent was sitting there, he really didn't want to make this 16 hour drive anyway and I just broke out laughing. "Sorry Brent, but you get to leave in a few hours!"

It took us 1.5 hours to get to the town. Another 2 hours sitting in the small Armenian car waiting for Vladimir to get it done and literally 2 minutes to sign the documents. They handed me the new certificates, congratulated us on our new sons and we dashed out of there to get back to Sumy in time to have them "stamped".

We thought our drive was bad but Brent didn't get home until 9:00pm tonight. 21 hours in a car listening to Ukrainian r-r-rock 'n r-r-roll (mostly Western songs remade in Ukrainian or Russian), trying to carry on a conversation with the driver who speaks no english and the young translator who's getting about 70% of the conversation. What a great day!

I'd have to say though that the town we went to was clean and quaint and the women were very nice to us. Most people rode bikes there because there wasn't a mass transit system and most people can't afford a car. I also had to use the bathroom while waiting. Mind you, this is in front of city government building in a town about the size of Midway. They didn't have an actual bathroom but directed me behind the building next to the government building where there was an outhouse. I thnk it was just the neighbor's facility. It was the oldest, stinkiest outhouse I can remember ever using. It didn't even have any toilet paper so thank goodness I didn't have to sqaut! I was afraid a rat was going to squeel out of the hole while I was standing there! :-)

Another great adventure!

Excellent Ukrainian Concert!

2008-09-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 - Another cold, rainy day but another fun day with the boys. We met Natalie with the boys at McDonalds (all buses go by the McDonald's in Sumy -- seriously) and walked over to the Post Office to get pictures for their passports. All of the pictures came out really nice. Artem and Sasha saw one of their friends from the orphanage on the street. We assume he graduated and hope he is doing fine.

We then treated the boys to yet another fine meal at McDonald's. They must be getting bolder

with us because both Sasha and Austin Milne ordered Chicken wraps, double hamburgers, fries and a drink. Then, when they went back for Ice Cream Sundaes, they both ordered another hamburger as well as the Ice Cream. These boys can eat!!! We're used to our girls eating very little most of the time. Arri figures she's going to have to get good at preparing filler foods like pastas, potatoes, breads, etc. just to keep them full after a meal.

We had some time to kill before taking them back to the school so we walked through their mall. They have nice things in their stores but just a very "maze" type atmosphere. Then it was back on our favorite mode of transportation (buses!) back to the school.

We arrived at the school around 3:00pm so we went into the dormitory waiting room (T.V. room) and watched women's sand volleyball until the boys showed up with their wonderful teachers Maria and Sergei (the music teacher).

They performed a really nice concert singing several classical Ukrainian folk songs and a song they learned at camp when they were younger. Not all of the boys sang so we assumed that singing or playing an instrument is by choice. Sasha plays the flute and sings where Artem does neither.

Maria kicked off the meeting handing out some of the pictures and writings of the boys when they were in first grade. Logan said he wanted to be an airplane when he grows up. The boys were embarrassed but you could feel how much Maria cared for them. She's been their Mother for so many years.

She went on about how the boys will really be missed when we leave but that she is very happy for them because they will have a family. She told the boys to repay "these good people who traveled from the other side of the world" by caring for us and being good. It was very hard to hear her talk as if it's a Mother giving up her children for something she knows is better for them. She told them to please come back and if the school is no longer there, to come stay at her house. It's going to be extremely hard to say good-bye when we leave.

Afterwards, Sergei opened up the gym again and he ref'd a game of basketball. It was the Americans and Artem against Sasha, Austin, Logan, Artem Milne and Sergei's son Bogden (I think that was his name). It was fun and again, we were worn out. I believe that Lucinda was once again our high scorer!

Artem and Sasha got mad at each other during the game and Artem was very upset afterwards. Arri and I can tell that it's something we're going to have to work with and watch over the years.

By the way, we heard from Julie Hatch. They're traveling to Russia during this 10 day period and they couldn't get back over the Russian border so today they made it to Warsaw, Poland and hope to be back in Ukraine tomorrow. I'm sure they'll have a few stories!

Jungle Ball Anyone!?!?

2008-09-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - Got to the orphanage at about 2:30 today. The kids were in with their music teacher Sergei playing the flute and just hanging out. Sergei is really good to these kids and we enjoyed talking to him. Come to find out, he has the key to the Gymnasium upstairs so he let us play basketball. It was fun to play with the boys and their gym teacher showed up and played with us as well. We had the height advantage and I believe Lucinda and Arri surprised them as to how well the Amerikanski women can play!

Then, they had a soccer tournament between the classes. The older class seemed to beat the others with our Artem as a defensive player. Sasha didn't play with his class but we sat out in the cold rain (after sweating in the basketball gym) watching a couple of the games. We finally got too cold and went inside and had some really good laughs with the boys (thanks to Natalie our translator being there).

We showed the boys the good ol' fashioned leg wrestles and they had fun with those. I think Sasha and Artem got a little tied up at one point and thank goodness Artem didnt have the need to relieve himself!

Then, since Austin Milne still had the key to the gym, we went up and played volleyball. We decided the boys could learn quite a bit about basketball and volleyball and they could teach us a lot about soccer. We also noticed that Artem and Sasha argue all the time whenever they're competitive or have to share something. I guess that's normal and something we'll work on.

We also had a good talk with the twins today for Julie Harris. Julie, just email Arri at arrirogers@comcast.net and she'll give you more details (she doesn't have your email address).

More rain but another good day with the boys.

The original "Bean Bag"...

2008-09-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 15, 2008 - Today we shopped in the morning for food, made lunch and left a little early to walk through the market before taking a bus to go to the school. We saw what I would call the Ukraine version of a mall. It was a large building full of stores that you'd access via hallways. Nothing wide open. More like an outdoors market only indoors so we were out of the cold. They had nice clothes and things and all at about the same price as what we'd pay in the States. I also stopped by a bicycle shop hoping to find some type of Ukrainian bicycle jersey. Unfortunately, they didn't carry any clothing.

We jumped on a smaller bus to get to the school today and we had to stand but...we couldn't stand up. Kind of made for an uncomfortable ride and I think the locals got a kick out of the dumb American (that would be me) who couldn't stand up straight.

When we got to the orphanage, the boys still had chores to do so we followed them to help. We noticed 2 of the boys swinging sacks and hitting each other (Posha and Luis). The teacher didn't seem to mind and then they started kicking the sacks and beating them with a stick. We went over to watch and realized that the bags were full of beans that the kids had picked and then they put them in white, nylon woven bags and beat the crap out of 'em to separate the beans from the pods. Then they'd pour the beans onto a blanket and pull out the empty pods. We joined in to help and it was interesting. Then they'd raise the podless beans up in the air and pour them onto the blanket to let the wind take more of the husks out.

After, they lit the pods on fire and the boys took advantage and roasted apples on the fire at the end of a stick. Like something we'd do with marshmallows. When the apples were good and roasted, they'd peel the skin and eat the apples. They were really pretty good! Yet another great Ukrainian experience!

Later, we played more games and took the boys to the local store and bought them an Ice Cream. Not much else happened and I think we're all getting anxious to take the boys home. It's hard to be here everyday not accomplishing much at all. On the other hand, we are bonding with the boys and we probably won't get a chance to spend this much time with them once we get back to the States. So, I am and should be more grateful for that.

After the Bean husking, Brent set up a plastic bottle (you can find garbage everywhere) and the boys started "bowling" with the apples. Being boys, they got competitive and that kept them busy for a while.

Also, we pulled Tanya and Sasha (twins) aside for a short time with our translator and talked about a family in the States that would like to adopt them. Natalie, our translator didn't have much time to talk to them because she was due in court with Neil and Carolyn Milne. We'll talk to the twins more tomorrow. Also, Artem Milne's adoption was recognized and approved to Neil and Carolyn so our boys who had their court dates last week, can no longer tease him about being the "orphan" of our group.

By the way, they have fireworks EVERY DAY here in Sumy. Not sure why but the place next to us (we think it's a club) lit off a bunch tonight. And no Narci, Phil and Mia, when I heard them I did not yell to everyone to "Hide!", thinking it was somebody shooting outside!!! (a little inside family joke) :-)

Rainy Days and Sundays...

2008-09-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 14, 2008 - Before you 70's Carpenters buffs get on me about the title, I know it's supposed to say "Rainy Days and Mondays" but it's Sunday and it's rainy. Got up for church this morning. Last week there were only about 20 of us there. Today, the place was filled. A lot of Americans and Natalie brought 5 boys from the school. Sergei who was baptized yesterday showed and several inactives showed up today as well. I'd guess there were about 50 people today. Great to see so many in the attendance.

The boys were pretty restless by the end of sacrament meeting and wanted to leave but we asked the missionaries to tell the boys about their experiences growing up in the church and specifically around the Young Men's program.

After church we came back to our apartment and Arri and Lucinda fixed a nice meal of Soup (Top Ramen with potatoes and carrots), liver-filled dumplings, bread and fruit. The boys ate everything we put in front of them -- and then

some! They found our stash of candy and kept running to that room to get more. It's AMAZING how much they can eat. After dinner, we were playing cards and Arri cut up a couple of peaches and a banana or two and placed it in front of the boys. Without exagerating, the bowl was gone within 30 seconds! We couldn't believe it! Then they found the cans of cheese whiz that I brought. They were piling it on crackers as high as they could and then eating it. Not too healthy...

The Milne's gave Austin (Ruslon) his birthday gift (a nice digital camera) and then Lucinda and Arri talked a few of the boys into getting their hair cut. They especially wanted to cut Yaroslov's (Hatch's son) because he was growing the beginnings of a mullet. He was reluctant but they shamed him into it as only mothers can do.

The boys didn't want to go home but Natalie our translator took them home at about 6:00pm. I was thinking, maybe we should bring Natalie home with us to translate and every evening we could hand off the kids to her at about 7:00pm...

From the River, to the Table, to the Parlor...

2008-09-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 13 -- Early this morning Neil Milne called Brent to let him know that the local branch was going to have a baptism. Since Arri was sick and Lucinda had been up since 2:00am, Brent and I quickly walked to the Branch to see the baptism. It was a fairly young man named Sergei and when he saw how many people were there (most of the Branch (about 12 people) and 6 Americans), he wanted to back out. He is a very shy man but the Elder from Armenia who is also the local Branch President talked to him and then we all jumped in a small bus and drove to the local river. It's interesting that the owner/driver of the bus isn't a member but he really likes the missionaries so he drives them all over for free. His name was Sergei too.

At the river we had a little difficulty finding a good spot where there wasn't either a fisherman, someone bathing, lots of cow remains or a pile of garbage that someone dumped. We finally found a good spot, said a prayer, sang a hymn and one of the sisters gave a talk on baptism. Then Sergei and the Elder/President went back to Sergei's car and changed into white clothing. They stepped into the water and after the prayer when the Elder tried to submerge Sergei, he was fighting going under so the Elder really had to shove him down! When he came up, he had a big smile on his face and when the Elder hugged him, he dunked the Elder! First time I've been to a baptism in a river and the first time I've seen the baptisee dunk the Elder! We then sang some more hymns out in the cold (I'm guessing about mid '40's) while they got dressed, heard another talk from Elder Doorman of Washington and then returned to the church for a testimony meeting. Afterward we ate some cookies and Pepsi. Overall another wonderful experience here in Ukraine. I wish my daughters could have experienced it as well as the boys. Also, for those coming here after us, bring an english hymn book if you plan to go to church.

On the way back we met up with Arri and Lucinda who had been kicked out of the apartment by the cleaning lady. So, we ate a crepe from a street vendor and did some shopping for light bulbs (barely enough light in the apartment) and food for Sunday. We then went to the orphanage to pick up the kids and brought them back into town. The missionaries opened up the branch building for us and we played ping-pong for a couple of hours. We taught them chinese ping-pong and they had a good time with that.

Afterwards we went to the local pizza parlor and ordered several pizzas. The boys ate quite a bit and seemed to enjoy themselves. Then they wanted Ice Cream but mistakenly ordered what I would call a dish of flavored whip cream. I got a real sugar buzz from it and 2 hours later I still feel stuffed!

Arri continues to suffer with her cold but has been a real trooper hanging with us all day. She's back on Motrin tonight and laying on the couch with her "Twilight" series book. It's the 4th book in the series and I think she's read this one only 3 times!! Who cares about vampires? I keep telling her they're not real but she insists her "Edward" is...

So great to be with the boys and every day we seem to grow closer. We were working with them on their english pronunciation of "3" which seems to be really hard for them. They also were laughing at me as I've been trying to just count to 10 in Ukrainski. Such great experiences that I only wish Maddie, Lauren and Cat could be here with us.

Half Way Through...

2008-09-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 12, 2008 - We think we're half way through our Ukrainian adventure. Nothing overly exciting to discuss today. We had a lazy morning mostly just reading books and scriptures. I'm reading a great book written by Jeff Shaara called, "Rise to Rebellion." It's a novel based on the Revolutionary War and VERY interesting. I recommend it highly if you like history based novels.

Carolyn and Neil Milne stopped by and then we all met at McDonald's for lunch before going to see the boys. The weather has turned colder and Arri picked up a cold so we stayed in the dormitory building and played cards most of the day with the boys. We played UNO. I beat Arri.

Later, when the boys were supposed to be going to their evening class from 5:00 to 6:00, the instructors let those who are being adopted skip the class and we went back to the dormitory. There we had Natalie explain to the boys more about how our schools work in the States (e.g. 7 different classes, different teachers, different kids in each class, etc.). When we mentioned that they would have to be out the door by 7:25am to catch the bus, they were really complaining. I guess around here school doesn't start until 9:00 and they just walk across the courtyard. I told them that if they get 5 tardies, the teacher pulls there pants down in front of the class and spanks them. They weren't sure if I was joking or not at first and the look on their faces was great!

Tonight, we made scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, toast (frying it in a pan), and some fresh fruit for dinner. By the way, those of you who know Arri know that my comment above about me beating her at cards is really going to bug her when she reads this! :-)

Das vidana!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

2008-09-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 11, 2008 - This morning Arri and Lucinda Milne met our translator Natalie and picked up the orphanage director, Viktor and did some shopping. Each family "donates" some money to the orphanage and Viktor prefered to go shopping and buy some things that they needed. They picked up rugs for the main sitting room and a new vacuum. The rest of the money will go for other incidentals.

While they were gone, Brent and I did some shopping and just hung out at the apartment. After we had a scrumptious macaroni and cheese lunch (made with buttermilk because we couldn't read the Ukrainian label!) we went to the school. Then Arri, Natalie, the boys and I took a taxi to Artem and Sasha's grandmother's apartment. She wanted to meet us and invited us for dinner which was very nice of her.

She lives in a 3 bedroom apartment that she is remodeling so it's in some disarray but very comfortable. Her daughter Irena (Ira) and Ira's son Bogden (2 years old) were there and Irena's husband Vladamir and Maxim were still working and showed up a little later. The grandmother made a lot of food including bread with caviar, pickles, tomatoes, Ukrainian borsk soup (it was very good), mashed potatoes with liver (Arri couldn't get herself to eat it), eggplant and after stuffing ourselves with that, she brought out a big plate of crepes filled with cheese. They were excellent! For desert they had watermelon, grapes and Arri brought a nice Ukrainian Torta (cake). I'm still stuffed hours later!!

We talked about many things and asked about the boys' father (this was their paternal grandmother). They said he died 2 years ago of cancer which didn't correspond to the court records but it doesn't really matter. The father was an agriculturist and apparently, was very well to do in their town with a big farm. We asked about the boys' mother but they don't have any contact with her. Maxim mentioned that he went to see the mother this past spring and helped her plant her potatoe garden. Nothing else was said of her. We also asked to see pictures and we took pictures of many of their photographs so even though the quality isn't great, we have a few baby pictures and other photos of their family.

It was a long but nice day to meet the boys' family. The little boy Bogden really loves Artem and Sasha and wouldn't leave them alone throughout the whole dinner. He kept pulling Sasha's hair and laughing. Artem and Sasha were very good to Bogden which was nice to see. Ira also wants us to visit her house before we leave so we'll see if we have time for that. One other thing we thought was different is that they left the T.V. running the whole time in the room on an MTV type of channel. It wasn't our place to ask her to turn it down.

Before going to the grandma's house, we had a celebration for Artem Milne's birthday and it's also my birthday today. Carolyn Milne brought a cake mix from the States and made a nice cake. We didn't have time to eat it but the kids at the school snarfed it down! These are great kids and you can't help but really grow to love all of them. Now we know why Nanette and Vern have worked so hard for so many years to find homes for these kids! There are several boys here I wish we could take with us. They're good kids but with very little future. God bless them.

2008-09-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

The Waiting Game

2008-09-10T20:51:00.001-07:00

These ten days will fly by. Yeah, right. It has only been three days since our court date and they are dragging by! We would just like to take our boys and go home to our girls! We haven't done much these few days. We are bonding with the boys though, and it has been really good. The more we get to know them, the more we feel like they have been ours since the beginning. It amazes me. They are so much like our family it is scary.

I will write more later. It is Kent's birthday today, along with another boy here the Milne's Artem. We are planning a little celebration for them today, so we will let you know.

2008-09-09T23:43:00.000-07:00

Our Day in Court

2008-09-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

On Monday, September 8th, we had our official court date to adopt Artem and Sasha. There were 4 families in our group (Morgans adopted Anastacia, Brent Milnes adopted Austin and Hatches adopted Logan). We arrived at 1:00pm and had to wait for the prosecutor to show up. He finally arrived 2 hours later and the Morgans were first. 45 minutes later they emerged with smiles and Alan gave us insight on how it would go.

In the courtroom was the female Judge, court secretary, 2 jurors, Sumy Dept of Childhood inspector (Valeria), the Sumy orphanage lawyer, the boys, our translator and of course, Arri and I. Everything was being recorded so it was very formal. I should mention that the courtroom was just a larger office with 2 desks and chairs around the side.

Arri and I each had to stand up, one at a time, and answer questions from the judge. She was very stern when talking to us and we were both a little nervous. Besides general information about ourselves (name, birthdate, where we live, etc.) for the record, she wanted to know about my relationship with Arri, about my job, my income, if the boys would be cared for, what is our house like, how will the boys learn english, etc. She wanted to know why we wanted to adopt these Ukrainian boys and all we could really say is that after we had them in our home, we fell in love with them and felt they were already part of our family. Arri broke down again expressing her feelings about the boys and said she felt like they were her boys from the first time she saw their picture.

The judge then read the boys' history. She openly discussed how their parents lost their parental rights, that their father died in 2004, that their grandmother had guardian rights for a while but she lost those as well a couple of years ago. We felt it must have been hard for the boys to hear but they seemed fine with it. As a side note, Arri asked the boys on Sunday if they want to visit their grandmother before leaving the country which they said that they did. When she asked if they want to see their mother, they both camly but without hesitation said "no." Sasha then pointed to Arri and said, "You Mother!" and smiled. I don't need to write how that made her feel.

The judge then had the boys come up next to her and she was very pleasant with them. They were very nervous. They answered all of her questions politely looking straight forward, not wanting to upset her in any way. When she asked about our daughters, Sasha instantly grinned and then tried to straighten up again. The judge laughed. She also commented how much the boys look like Arri and me. She made some statement that "God must have something to do with this." That was nice. Throughout all of this the lawyer and inspector were asked their opinions and they were very favorable of our adoption.

The judge and jury then deliberated for about 5 minutes and called us back in. She announced that Ukraine recognizes the adoption of Artem Kent Rogers and Alexander David Rogers to Arri and me. The Rogers becAme seven!

We now have the obligatory 10 day waiting period in case anyone wants to back out of the adoption or if a family member steps forward.

Today, Tuesday, we got up and all the families went to see the boys. I was sick today and after eating lunch, felt it was best to stay close to the apartment so I didn't get a chance to see them. They played soccer again as well as a new dice game.

Oh one other blog-worthy incident. After the adoption we all celebrated by going to McDonald's. The Hatch's older boys arrived in Sumy yesterday and David speaks Russian (mission). While ordering, a guy tried to pick-pocket David and David felt his hand and shoved the guy away. And then they were shouting at each other. The McDonald's manager came out and asked if David wanted the police to come. He said yes. They showed up and the Police hauled away the guy. It made everyone in McDonald's very nervous but we're glad David stood up to him.

2008-09-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

2008-09-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

Good Sunday

2008-09-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a really relaxing day for us. We got up and went to church. We couldn't take the boys out, because we really shouldn't be taking them before the court date. We got lucky yesterday. We walked to church, with another beautiful warm day. It has actually been really hot. (I'm so glad that I brought shorts, I was told not to.) The branch was small in members, but we met in a good sized building. It was really nice inside. The spirit was there and it felt like a home away from home.

We went back to the apartment afterwards, changed and ate, then headed back to the internat school to hang out with the boys. It was a really good day. We seemed to communicate better, and open up with each other more. We had our translator sit down with the four of us and have a heart to heart. It was really good. The four of us walked and picked apples and we did just find figuring out each other. It was a great bonding moment. We also got to take a look at photo's from when the boys were young. We are taking them to get copies made.

All in all, it has been my favorite day so far!

A Day with the boy's

2008-09-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

We had a great day with the boy's today. We picked them up at the internat and took off to go bowling. There is only two lanes there, so needless to say we took up all of the space. It was a good thing we werer the only ones there. The real winner was Lucinda, mark came in 2nd. Out of the boy's Rulsan won with Artem coming in 2nd and Sasha third.

We ate after that at a little cafe down the way from there. It was really good. These boy's know how to eat!

Sumy has been having a festival of the city, so there was a lot going on in town. We walked over to the park where they had a carnival in town. The boy's loved the bumber cars the most. Sasha wanted to go on all the rides, and took me on the upside one. I think they had a blast.

We bought them a basketball, volleyball and soccer ball. We are hoping they will last until tomorrow!

Sunny in Sumy!

2008-09-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

On Thursday morning we got up early to get documents notarized. After, we shopped in Sumy waiting until we could go see the boys. Natalie received a call from Vladimir in the afternoon and Arri and I were asked to come to the school immediately to meet a child social worker from the town where the boys were born. The woman's name is Alla and it was her who first took the boys from their home and placed them in the orphanage. She then helped the boys in court when they took away their parents' rights. She was concerned that we were taking Artem and Sasha from their older brother Maxim. We talked for a while and while talking the boys showed up and put their arms around Arri.

I felt very warm feelings towards Alla and her sincere concern for the boys. She just had a great feeling about her. After we spoke for a time, she was satisfied and left to go see Maxim. We assume that all went well. The Dads played soccer with a bunch of the boys on a dirt court and had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we were completely black with dirt and Brent Milne and I could hardly walk. We had a great time.

Today (Friday the 5th) we slept in a bit and did some shopping at the market. At 3:00 we went back to the school and watched all the kids working. They're trying to clean up the school for some inspectors showing up soon. While the Dads took the boys to the apple orchard to eat wormy apples, the Moms filled up water balloons and snuck up on us and tried to get us wet. We then had water balloon toss contests and had a nice time.

The inspector (Valeria from our hosting program last year) only got 2 hours of sleep, so she could finish our papers, so that Vladimir could submitt them as soon as possible for an earlier court date.

We learned late today that Vladimir got us a court date for Monday at 1:00pm!! That's great news to get a date so quickly for 4 families! Nice job Vladimir!!

Also, I should mention for those coming after us, we rented an Aircard for our laptop and are getting internet access from our apartment. I've also loaded a "softphone" and have been able to call the U.S. from here.

It's been unseasonably warm here in Sumy. Today was the hottest day so far. We've tried to upload some pictures but for some reason they're not working.

Happy Birthday to Lucinda Milne today and Julie Hatch yesterday!

2008-09-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Sumy at 8:30 am after a 4 hour drive from Kiev. I was able to sleep, but the others were not so lucky. I guess I have better sleeping aids! We got to the ophanaged just as Artems class was taking a break. All of a sudden he was out of the door, and ran into my arms. I screamed and held him so tight! I gave him a kiss on the head, then turned him over to Kent. Then we waited a minute for Sasha. He also ran out from the door into my waiting arms. I can't believe that we are even here. It all seems like a dream. They look so good, just the way we remembered. I have it all on video, not to worry. We went into the the orphanage directors office and sat there for an enernity for the director. His assistant took charge of the meeting, with the social worker and medical personal. They asked us a bunch of questions and the boy's. We were informed of there medical backgrounds and medical issues. Then we were done. We were then informed that we needed to meet with their older brother, Maxim. It went really well. He is a good kid. We hung out at the orhpanage for a while, and then went back to our apartment to sleep. Did I mention we are so tried!

I am a day behind, sorry. It is late, and yes, we are still majorly tried. Tomorrow we will have more time to write, as we don't have to go and go and go. All we have to do right now is to wait for our court date. If all goes as planned it will be either Wednesday or Thursday.

I will write a lot more tomorrow.

I miss my Kids!

We are Here!!!!!

2008-09-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Kiev on Monday, after a delay of 3 hours in New York. We are exhausted! We had our SDA appointment this morning and all went well. They showed us a picture of Artem and Sasha of when they first arrived at the orphanage and it made Arri tear up a bit. The lady thought that was nice. While our facilitator Vladimir is trying to get the proper documents, we went site seeing and saw a bunch of monks that are mummified. Many people sojourn there and kiss the glass caskets.

Natalie our translator is very helpful and nice and the Milnes and Hatch's are easy-going and great to travel with. Kiev is beautiful and so far we're really enjoying it. More to come...

Gone in less than 15 Hours!

2008-08-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

WOW! I can hardly believe we leave tomorrow. It has been a long wait since we said good-bye to them last November. It all seems so surreal now. We will be taking off early in the morning, but we will not be far away with "keeping it real" with our blog. It will be a once in a lifetime adventure, and we are very excited to start it.

We will see you in Kiev on monday, as you will all be coming along with us through this blog.

One week Mark!

2008-08-24T21:16:00.001-07:00

Just one week from today, and we will be off to Ukraine! Finally, we get to go and get our boy's. Everyone has been so anxious. We will be leaving on the 31st at 8:30 am. I think we have everything we need, but have yet to pack. I feel like I have all week to get everything ready, but most likely it will speed by, and we will not be ready! We are a little nervous too!

If anyone wants to send us with things to deliver to friends over there, better get it to us soon!

Misha is home!

2008-08-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

Misha came home last Sunday afternoon to start his life with his new family! We are so happy for the Jorgensens!

It was great to get a chance to greet them at the airport. I can't wait until it is our turn to bring our boy's home!

The last of the boy's pictures until we get there.

2008-07-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

( If you think Sasha looks like he's in pain, your right!)

Well Margie and Kent have left Sumy, and are now in Kiev until they leave for home on Saturday. They had taken a bunch of them out for Misha's Birthday to McDonalds. Sasha, I think ordered everything on the menu, twice. 2 Big Mac's, 1 big and tasty, jumbo fries, ice cream sunday, 2 big cookies, and helped everyone finish off their meals. Needless to say, he wasn't feeling really well on the way home. I think we have been a little naive about feeding our family. We have been so use to the little portions our girls eat. I only grocery shop once a week. I'm pretty sure I'll be going more often when the boys get here.

All is well with us. We are trying to get ready for school to start on the 25th of August. Lauren will be going to a different high school for her senior year, at her request. So we have to get her registered in the next week or two. We also have to get ready to leave for Ukraine this month. We are going to meet with several people who already went on this trip, so they can tell us exactly what we need to take. It's going to be a pretty busy month.

Let's Do Lunch!

2008-07-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our monthly lunch, with the people who have and are adopting kids from Ukraine. July is a busy month for everyone, but we had about 9 people show up. A few of us had some set backs. With a few more prayers, I'm sure that everything will go according as planned for everyone. So if you can say an extra prayer for those of us going over in September, it will be well appreciated. Never say die! (This is my new mantra)

I was able to talk to Margie yesterday as well as the boy's. Everything is coming along with them smoothly, and they will be coming home within the next week.

Bike For A Cure!

2008-07-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked about the MS 150 ride that Kent and I did at the end of June. It was so great. Logan is a great city to ride a bike. So scenic and peaceful. The thousands of people that rode for MS, was amazing. We were able to raise 1,640.000.00 for farther research and hopefully a cure for MS. Kent has two sisters that have to suffer with this disease. Kent started riding in the MS 150 two years ago. He rode 100 miles, and I rode 40 miles. This was Kent's third year and my first. We had two of his sisters greet us at the finish line. Thanks, to all those that made donations on our behalf. It seriously means so much to us, and our families. I will post more pictures of the MS ride when I get them.

To get ready for our MS ride, I rode in the Red Riding Hood ride in Logan. It was women only! It was an amazing experience. I rode with a friend of mine, who not 24 hours before had a dose of radiation for her treatment of breast cancer. We rode 36 miles.

Birthday Week!

2008-07-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

I had an extra long Birthday week, thanks to my family. My Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and her kids came to visit from Arizona. We had a fun week, going to dinner, movies, playing games and just hanging out. The boy's called me from Ukraine, thanks to Margie, and sang Happy Birthday in English! It was great!

Super Saturday

2008-07-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today started out great! We got to talk to the boy's with our interpreter Inna. They had a lot to say, as they are having such a great time at summer camp. It has been especially fun with the Jorgenson's there. They get to play basketball and soccer longer, and that's "really cool!"

I'm so glad they are in good spirits. They said that they can hardly wait for us to come, but in reality they are most likely having more fun there, then they would be having here. Unless they prefer to mow the lawn and pull weeds. It seems like this whole week has been pulling those obnoxious weeds! Uguh!

Pictures

2008-07-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

It was great to have most of our family at church with us, as kent was ordained a High Priest.

I got a nice surprise today when I came in from weeding the garden. The phone rings and I pick it up to hear this deep voice say "Hi Mom!" I said "Who is this?" He said "This is Sasha!" He asked me how I was, and I him. That was the most English I ever heard him say. Artem got on next and said "Hi Mom. I Love You! We wait for you." Of course this made my whole day. Thanks so much Margie, It is so great to have you there. The pictures are great, but it is even better when I get talk to them. We are planning a phone call on Saturday with our wonderful interpreter, Inna.

I'm so excited to get pictures from our friends that are in Ukraine right now. They are getting there son, Misha. Things are going well for them. The boy's are looking taller. It is so great to be able to see them. We miss them so much.

A Change In Plans

2008-07-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

With a little luck yesterday, we were able to change our flight plans so that we can have the shortest flight time possible to Ukraine. We had a flight that was to take about 26 hours to get to Ukraine. Now it will only take us 15 hours! We only have one, 1 hour layover in NYC. I tried to get this flight from the beginning, but it was never available. I have been trying for about 3 weeks. Never say die. If there's a will, there's a way!

Only 54 day's left to go. We are getting really excited and nervous at the same time. Two teenage boy's that don't know how to speak English, will be a challenge. Our girls can't wait to be constantly teased. That will last about a week. Kent is thrilled to have boy's in the house. He has been out numbered by girls since he was born.

A New Family

2008-07-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

Our desire in publishing a blog site is to document our experiences and "adventure" as we adopt Artem and Alex from Sumy, Ukraine. This will not only be a means for our family and friends to follow along, but perhaps give some hope or guidance to others hoping to adopt.

We are thrilled that we have finally received a date to go to Ukraine and pick up our boy's. We started the process in November of 2007. We are to report to Kiev September 2nd, 2008 and we hope that all will go well.