Second Last Stop

December 25-30, 2015

We've had a few eventful days and we are now in Kiev.  Hooray!

December 25th is a nonevent in Ukraine.  Rodger took our son to apply for another document that we needed.  Turning 18 years old has required lots of additional paperwork it seems.  They were unsure as to how long the processing would take so we knew that we would not be going to Kiev this afternoon as we had hoped.

We knew nothing would be happening over the weekend so life continued as normal or as normal as it can be when you are in a foreign country adopting.  The weather was beautiful, sunny and a high of 17.  Considering that Odessa is not known to be a Winter Vacation Hot Spot this was impressive.  We've heard from several people that this fall has been warmer than usual and being on the Black Sea means the weather is milder in Odessa than most of Ukraine.

Life is quite different from what we are used to.  Here we walk to the grocery store and local market almost every day to pick up groceries for the day.  The grocery store was just across the street and the market was about 2 blocks away.

On Monday morning Rodger, our son, and translator went to pick up one document and found out that they needed to apply for another.  Screaming wouldn't help but we were ready to!  Mid afternoon our translator called and said that there was a possibility that we could pick up the passports at 4:00 pm.  Dare we hope that this could actually be?  4:30 - I got a FB message with pictures of the passports:)  We checked for flights to Kiev but there weren't any available for that evening or the 29th unless we wanted to pay major big bucks - about the same as it would cost to fly fromKiev to Winnipeg!  We heard that you could rent a taxi (minivan) for cheap.  It would be a 5-6 hour drive and we could leave first thing the next morning.  We booked the taxi and then it was time to pack.

6:00 am, Dec. 29 we were in the van and on our way.  The trip was relatively uneventful until we were within an hour of Kiev where farmers had blocked the road.  Apparently they had staged 24 rallies and a blockade to protest taxes.  A short detour and we were on our way again.  Traffic lights were out in Kiev near city centre so the last part of the trip was very slow but by 1:00 we had arrived.  After a quick lunch we were off to the Canadian Embassy.  They are working on the kids' visas which is the last thing we need before we can head home.  This is a short work week with New Years but they assured us that the visas would be ready for Wednesday or Thursday at the latest so I booked our flights.  We will depart on Jan. 7th and arrive in Winnipeg very early (1:00 am) on Jan. 8th.  Even though it's a few weeks later than we had hoped we are very excited to be coming home.  We can count down the days!

Odessa - Dec. 25

Christmas

December 23-25, 2015

Rodger and I and our children (both in Winnipeg and in Ukraine) would like to extend our greetings to all of you who have been following our blog.  We are grateful that so many of you have and continue to uphold us in your prayers.  We pray that God will bless you all today as you gather with family and friends to celebrate our Saviour's birth.

I will keep this short today but as you have already assumed, we are still in Odessa.  This morning was another trip for more papers.  This one is actually ready this afternoon and we pray that the rest of them will be ready on Monday.  Then we will see if there are any flights to Kiev with empty seats.  This will be a challenge as New Years is a big celebration here in Ukraine.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Hurry Up and Wait

December 17-22, 2016

Rodger has said Hurry Up and Wait sums up our adoption journey and I was sitting in a hallway waiting when I began this post...

Last Tuesday, we applied for an Internal Passport for our son which he needs because he's 18.  We waited impatiently for this passport as it was needed before we could proceed.  Wednesday passed, then Thursday, and Friday.... Saturday - it was ready:)

On Saturday, we had our second farewell for our son at the House of Hope.  We have grown to appreciate the house parents and all they do to prepare these orphanage graduates on so many levels for the future.  A sense of what family it means to be part of a family and introducing them to the Lord are just two of the social, emotional, spiritual, and physical areas they build on.

Yesterday we applied for new identification numbers (similar to our Social Insurance Number) and for their Ukrainian International Passports.   Today some of this paperwork had to be finalized and signed.  There were also Adoptee Citizenship Applications that were completed for Canadian citizenship:)  Thankfully, for us, Christmas is not celebrated until January 7th so we are hoping that these passports will be ready by the end of this week so we can travel to Kiev on the weekend for the last steps at the Canadian Embassy.

At times it is really difficult not to become discouraged as the process seems to drag on much longer than we would like.  We never expected to be spending Christmas here in Ukraine but that is what will be happening.  We are now thinking/hoping that we will be in Winnipeg and then we can celebrate Ukrainian Christmas as a new family of 6 Faber.

Praying that you will all have a blessed Christmas.
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Mañana, Mañana ...

December 13-16, 2015

I realize that the title mañana is Spanish but it just fits the way I'm feeling right now.  For those of you who do not know any Spanish, mañana means tomorrow.  When we've been in Cuba we heard this word frequently.  If you asked when something was going to happen the answer was always, "Mañana."  You soon learned that mañana might mean tomorrow, 2+ days, next week, or sometime in the future.  This seems to be what's happening with our paperwork.

Yesterday we left Odessa at 5:30 am for a 4 1/2 hour trip to get new passports for the kids.  It was 12 hours later that we returned to Odessa and I'm happy to say we have new birth certificates:) so they are officially Fabers!  Next they need new identification (with their new last name) before we can apply for their international passports.

Today we ran around getting more papers signed.  We had a farewell lunch at the orphanage and people said their good-byes.  Now we are very excited to have our new daughter living with us.

On Monday, I finally figured out how to respond to people's comments but I can only do it on my iPad!  I've tried several times, unsuccessfully, on my laptop.  I guess I'm a slow learner but being persistent paid off!

I don't know how many of you use the Today devotional but I have felt that the last few seem to have a message for me, they were titled Worth Waiting For, Impatience, and Waiting Quietly.  God uses many different ways to get his message to us.

Being in Winnipeg for Christmas is not looking likely anymore.  Please pray for speed and patience for us as we wait.

Waiting

December 6-12, 2015

We are in a waiting period right now.  Being that it's the Christmas season I'm listening to Christmas music - Peter Hollens and Pentatonix.  I'm reminded how Advent is about waiting.  After Jesus' birth we read about Simeon and Anna and how they waited for the Saviour.  Our waiting (for anyone to object to our adoption) will be over on Monday.

On Tuesday we will be travelling 3 1/2 hours to the village where the kids were born to get new birth certificates.  On Wednesday we will be able to have the kids stay with us.  We will need to get new passports for them and they will need criminal record checks.  We hope to complete those steps next week so that we can travel to Kiev.  In Kiev the Canadian Embassy will need to give the final approvals before we can head home to Winnipeg:)

We covet your continued prayers that these last steps will move quickly and that we will be able celebrate Christmas with all 6 family members in Winnipeg.

Birthday

December 2-5, 2015

Things seem sort of anti-climatic since we had our court date.  But then most waiting times aren't overly exciting.

On Wednesdays, a group of orphanage graduates meet at MJ's for supper, Bible study, and to hang out.  This week they also decorated the Christmas tree.  We invited our new daughter to join us for the evening.  She really enjoys opportunities to do something outside of the orphanage.  She is also eager to help with supper preparations and is interested in learn how to cook and bake:)

MJ departed for the US so we are having to rely on our translator and others to help us with things - everything from getting taxis to communicating with our kids and whatever else may come up.  We are grateful that we have met so many friendly, helpful people in Ukraine.

Rodger had his first haircut in Ukraine on Thursday.  One of the male graduates, who speaks a little English, went with him to translate.  Rodger was happy with the results and it's probably the cheapest hair cut he's ever had!  Later we ordered pizza and had him, our daughter, and a friend over for supper.  Conversation is challenging but we all enjoyed the evening.

Yesterday I made a birthday cake for our new son's 18th birthday.  Later we went bowling and had supper with him and his girlfriend.  They say practice makes perfect but that isn't the case with our bowling.! However, our games are improving.

We went to the House of Hope for birthday celebrations this afternoon.  It was neat to be a part of this special day.  There are all kinds of firsts in a person's life and it struck me that even though it's not a 1st birthday, it is the first time that we are celebrating his birthday with him.  Pretty awesome!

More Fabers

November 29-December 1, 2015

The most significant event was the court appointment which we had today.  Boy, were we ever nervous!  It ended with the judge congratulating us with our adoption of 2 children:)  We took them out for supper to celebrate.

Unfortunately, this does not mean that we can just head back home now.  We have lots more waiting to do - 10 day waiting period when people may raise objections to the adoptions,  new birth certificates, criminal record checks, new passports, etc.  In mid December we should be finished with things in Odessa and then we will travel to the Canadian Embassy in Kiev for our last step.  I'm still hoping that we will be home by Christmas.

Please pray that things will move quickly.