tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66689959711452886942010-01-01T13:59:25.652-06:00Our adoption story about two kids from Ukraine.Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-44616113873434157282009-12-22T13:00:00.004-06:002009-12-22T22:34:06.715-06:00

It's almost Christmas and I have been thinking back to the orphans in Ukraine that I spent time with last winter. When we were at Orphanage #4 in Odessa I remember that my first reaction to the place was one of loneliness and bleakness. In fact, I posted about it at the time. Of course, there are kids all around but it always seemed lonely to me.I put together a little video here with some

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-50708846360702067282009-12-11T00:24:00.000-06:002009-12-11T00:24:37.789-06:00

Our family has put together Christmas shoeboxes for years.  Samaritan's Purse has a ministry called Operation Christmas Child that distributes these donated shoebox gifts to children all over the world. We were surprised to learn that our two Ukies were also recipients of these boxes.  We expect the gifts to be sent overseas but I never expected to meet anyone who had received one.  And here our

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-57615718877775908282009-11-21T09:24:00.009-06:002009-11-23T19:59:13.613-06:00

I don't have to tell you how time flies, you already know that, of course. One year ago today we left for our first adoption trip, the first of two. 2½ months later our adoptions were complete. It seems like yesterday. Our SDA appointment was on Thanksgiving Day 2008. We spent it in the food court at the underground mall called Globus, in Independence Square in Kyiv. Amazing. Last Sunday, the

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-60067054816045585862009-11-19T22:12:00.002-06:002009-11-19T22:16:29.822-06:00

Interesting news clip from Russia Today. The toungue-in-cheek mention of Jurassic Flu refers to the fact that the H1N1 virus was resurrected from 1918 tissue samples, and the corpse of an Inuit Eskimo woman who died of the Spanish flu in 1918 and whose body was naturally preserved in ice. They did this so that they could determine the Spanish flu's genetic code. A flu virus appears to be

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-53325636553658952632009-11-17T23:04:00.000-06:002009-11-17T23:04:48.339-06:00

Amid hopes that the flu epidemic has reached its peak in Ukraine, there are reports that it may be worse than feared. I have seen several articles saying that the flu strain in Ukraine hasn't even been identified yet. This is not looking good. I feel for the families having to go over there right now. If you are going, be sure to take face masks with you, as they are near impossible to find there

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-15883652347763766552009-10-27T22:13:00.000-05:002009-10-27T22:13:34.684-05:00

This time of year, the Mitchell airport fills up with private jets of the wealthy who come here from all over the United States to hunt South Dakota pheasants. Here's another picture from last Saturday when I went pheasant hunting. South Dakota can be a very rustic place, but it has it's own kind of beauty.  I'm trying to pick out my favorite picture but I can't decide.  I have a couple more I

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-3892639811764929542009-10-26T22:21:00.003-05:002009-10-26T22:40:35.272-05:00

Saturday, I took off by myself to do some pheasant hunting in a State game area 5 mi. south of Mitchell.  I flushed 3 hens, but no roosters.  Oh well, it was a nice day to be out and enjoy my homeland.  Here is a picture I took out there.  It is straight off my camera and not touched up.  This is a stand of sunflowers left for the animals with a barren tree line behind it, waiting for the winter

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-76470327918888285862009-10-23T23:03:00.048-05:002009-10-23T23:43:26.464-05:00

August, September, and October are now our new birthday months, with each of our kids having a birthday then. Too crazy busy to post regularly, so as has been my pattern, I'll blog a larger post now and then. Here are some birthday pictures. Valya turned 15 in August. She is almost exactly one month older than Mark, though two grades behind him in school. We get a lot of questions from her about

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-2031874680324541752009-10-17T20:11:00.001-05:002009-10-17T20:12:04.242-05:00

Today our sweet Sergey is 14 years old. Unfortunately, he has been sick for the last couple of days and we had to cancel all of his party plans. We'll try to reschedule something fun for him. Thanks friends for the phone calls to Sergey. One of the calls he received today was from his classmate Andrey, whom some of you know. He was adopted by a family in S.C. and has been home for a couple

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-35889083019916502002009-09-30T13:00:00.001-05:002009-09-30T13:01:00.843-05:00

On Ukraine's National Adoption Day, a new statistic has been released by the government, stating that 12 children are adopted every day, 7 by Ukrainians and 5 by foreigners. 12 children are adopted in Ukraine every day in 2009 National Radio Company of Ukraine

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-8797257605538123572009-09-08T20:32:00.003-05:002009-09-08T20:46:40.442-05:00

Bad news reaching the internet tonight, a man who hosted 3 girls through Frontier Horizon is refusing to return them to Ukraine. Understandably, the Ukrainians are upset about this. He has no legal right to do this and is jeapordizing the future of hosting and adoptions from Ukraine.Ukraine Says Local Man Hasn't Returned KidsWFTV

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-43098309700840177882009-09-08T12:33:00.007-05:002009-09-08T13:27:03.609-05:00

This morning one of our cats, Bootsie, passed away.9 years ago we bought our first kitten, Patches, to keep Mark company, since he didn't have any siblings. Turned out Patches was lonely, so a week later we bought our second kitten, Bootsie. They've seen their world change since then - we've gotten our dog Sparkle, and have adopted our 2 Ukies. Mark has gotten older and doesn't spend time with

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-70933484525998806722009-09-07T14:59:00.005-05:002009-09-07T15:40:45.858-05:00

This weekend we attended the huge LifeLight Music Festival in Sioux Falls, where we were able to meet the Wolff family from nearby Iowa. The Wolff's adopted 2 teen girls from Ukraine, in fact from the same orphanage as our son Sergey, #4 in Odessa. We had gotten to know the Wolff's last year through our mutual blogs and emails. Like us, they were stuck in adoption limbo when Ukraine imposed

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-3142029839088055002009-08-21T12:04:00.007-05:002009-08-27T21:36:40.468-05:00

Monday will be Valya's 15th birthday. Tonight, we will be visiting Nancy's sister's family to have a birthday party for her with several of our relatives. We will have another party for her here at home with some of her friends on Monday evening.I was tucking her into bed last night, and she was all smiley. She said, Today was good day. All day was good day.Me: How come?V: I don't know.

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-22178380505926605412009-08-18T23:21:00.003-05:002009-08-19T12:54:06.626-05:00

School started for the kids today, Valya is in 7th grade, Sergey in 6th, and Mark is in 9th. The kids had a busy summer, and I must have too, because I didn't update the blog much. I will post again soon. I have pictures from the summer, plus Valya had a big day yesterday in Minneapolis where she took her citizenship oath. Will post more soon.

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-65065459656240652902009-07-22T20:00:00.000-05:002009-07-22T20:09:09.135-05:00

Summer is in full swing here. I think next week we have all of the kids home again. I think they have all been home together only one week since school got out. And really that is just fine with them. Each of our kids, when they have been the only one here, have told us that they like it when they are home alone with us.So far, Mark has been busy with 3 weeks of boy scout camp, a week of

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-58092661538735387312009-07-01T23:30:00.002-05:002009-07-02T04:10:55.761-05:00

Just a quick post here to let you know that we're doing fine.During June, Sergey and Valya were in summer school, which covered math. Next week, they start the July session where they will be studying reading and writing. We have had a private tutor for Valya, as well, for spelling and reading, and that has really been helping her.Mark and Sergey have open gym for basketball, and Valya has open

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-5736216623977085082009-06-20T00:53:00.006-05:002009-06-20T16:04:36.223-05:00

A big part of our responsibilities as parents is to teach our kids our faith. While we were finishing up the adoption process in Odessa, I was able to learn a little bit about their spiritual backgrounds.I was talking with some people who had just returned from a trip overseasand they could not stop talking about the people that they met -people that we would describe you know, as "poor"and yet

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-31841732762088318192009-06-16T23:00:00.000-05:002009-06-17T02:02:33.006-05:00

When we were in Odessa, we visited a church attended by several college students and missionaries in Odessa. One of the American gentlemen I talked to was in Odessa specifically to minister to street kids. He told me that there are about 800 street kids in Odessa and the authorities mostly ignore them. That way they can sweep them under the rug and not have to admit the problem they have. He

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-135100532403535082009-06-07T12:25:00.002-05:002009-06-07T12:38:51.919-05:00

Recently, Valya asked me if we could adopt her siblings. I was wondering when this day would come. She has four siblings back in Ukraine still. Two are already adults, but the other two are in two different special needs orphanages. They are twins, older than her. This situation was very difficult for us as we never felt like we could make them part of our family. In the end, the officials

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-54575941145720310262009-06-02T22:56:00.002-05:002009-06-02T23:04:36.167-05:00

Very good news today regarding Ukraine's possible moratorium on international adoptions. For "some reason", the vote just didn't show up on the parliament's calendar. We are thankful that Ukrainian children will still have another way to get families. I do not exagerate, I am sure there were thousands of faithful people around the world praying that this would not pass!

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-31831983918086827812009-05-28T23:12:00.015-05:002009-05-29T01:08:05.093-05:00

Word is getting out that this coming Tuesday, June 2, the parliament of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, will be voting on a bill to cease allowing all foreign adoptions, except from Russia. Being this far away, it is difficult to know exactly what is behind it. There is certainly an element of national pride. No government likes to see its children shipped out to foreign countries. There is also

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-19784246136808201832009-05-20T23:29:00.006-05:002009-05-21T00:03:54.199-05:00

We've been home with the Ukies for 3 months, but every once in a while I watch them and am amazed that they are part of our family.The other day I was watching Valya walking down the hallway toward her bedroom, and it struck me how a year ago it was near impossible to envision her here. Back in Ukraine, I never believed that Sergey would be any problem to adopt, and he wasn't. Plus we had

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-71176275979033460772009-05-16T19:18:00.051-05:002009-05-17T20:31:02.413-05:00

May 15 marked the 3 month anniversary of bringing the kids home. I can't say Sergey has changed much, but Valya is at the point where every week her English skills keep getting better and better.We arrived in Mitchell on a Sunday, and the kids were attending Mitchell Christian School the following Thursday. There was actually no school Monday or Friday that first week so it was a good time to

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668995971145288694.post-34779807314177720712009-05-08T18:30:00.002-05:002009-05-08T18:38:36.570-05:00

Tina asks,Some people bring gifts for people... judge, translator, teachers, etc... Is this expected? What kind of things should we bring? I have seen examples such as: spoons, coasters or perfumes. Any other ideas??Depending on how your facilitator schedules your fees to him/her, the major gift fees to the orphanage and others may or may not be built in to the fees you pay for facilitation.

Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00325586248965829415a.pretre@yahoo.com2