More pictures!

More pictures of the kids. All but Hannah in this line-up. It was a nice day: 45 degrees and sunny. The boys couldn't get enough outdoors time today! They especially loved the hammock.

Vitali raked the leaves for us.

Misha provided comic relief, as usual.

Max kept busy exploring and...

Riding this bike down the driveway and front yard all day. We need to get more Big Wheels! We got this one at a yard sale thinking the girls would enjoy it as much as we did as kids. They would ride it down the hill and then leave it there. Apparently it wasn't fun enough to warrant dragging it all the way back up the hill!
The boys love it, though! They never seem to tire!

Dad and his boys.

Annette loves Daddy.

Little Ivy Mae.

Vitali Luke.

Misha again...always smiling!

But he does have quite a good pouty face too.
Sometime I'll have to catch that on camera for you all!

Ahhhhh.....

Every guy could use a little bragging on...Mine really deserves it today! He volunteered to take all six kids to McDonalds to the playground so I could have some time to myself! Some friends who saw us on the news and stopped by to say hello gave us some gift cards to Mikky D's so that will be quite a treat to the girls and to Max. (Misha still needs to learn to like American bad-for-you food!)

Anyway, I just took a nice long hot shower, soaked in the tub, slathered myself with new body lotion, removed the remains of toenail-polish long ago applied and repainted. Now, I'm no foot model and I did a bit of a sloppy job but doesn't that look good?! I even put it on my fingernails which I rarely do because, while socks and shoes hide the fact that I am not very good about refreshing the polish, I don't often wear gloves to hide chipping fingernail polish!

Next, my big plans are to turn on a music CD really loud and speed-clean the house. I do it this way, for each song, I clean (and dance) each room. One room for each song. When the song changes, so does the room. It helps me keep my mind on my task and not be distracted all over the house! Don't laugh! It works for me! If I am alone, I can put more energy into the process so I expect to work up a sweat here pretty soon! Great! I can clean my house AND get fit all at the same time!!!! I would be more fit if I did this more often but if I did it more often, it wouldn't be as fun, would it?!

Alright, off to work but first, here are some pictures of the kids and stuff:

Steve and Little Vitali, who loves his "Papa!"

Vitali and Ivy together at lunch. The big 4 are out with dad.

Misha proudly shows off his piece of Americana.

Max covers his ears while Steve is using the saw in the garage.
The bigger girls, Hannah and Annette, have a dresser that needed work. Steve fixed it with the "help" of his boys today. Mom and I hung that shelf above it.

Ta daaa!

Menthol Breath

Phew! I just was downstairs with the boys sitting at the computer when Ivy came downstairs crying saying, "Maaama! Your baffroom has water on the fwooooor! She was wet on her socks and the back of her pants and where she was standing on the stairs was damp.

"Ivy, did you wet your pants!??" I asked her.

"Nooo!", wailing: "Your yewwow baffroom has water on the fwooor!"

I went up, sure she hadn't quite made it. There was my bathroom with water on the floor all right-- about a half an inch! Also, the drawers were full about three inches and the toothbrushes were floating around in there.

Misha doesn't always shut the water off and this time he forgot to unplug the sink as well. Hannah ran and got me the dirty towels from my bathroom and another one that was clean but big out of the closet. Then she got Ivy taken care of. Poor Ivy must have walked in and slipped, hence the wet back and socks! I took care of the rest.

I wasn't away from the bathroom five minutes. Just long enough to start a quick email and throw the sopping stuff into the washer. This time it was Vitali who came down crying. He was holding his tongue and very upset. I smelled something minty...no...something else...Yup, that's it: Icy Hot. The poor little guy had gotten into the stuff from the drawers that was lying in the tub drying out and had decided to taste the Icy Hot. Clawing at his tongue and crying, he asked for water! I took him out and wiped him off with a dry washcloth and then gave him a little milk to sooth his mouth. Fortunately, he didn't get much!

On a good note, the heating guy was here today and fixed our heater that had been icing up while we were gone. Thanks to our neighbors for keeping an eye on things and letting us know! And, thanks to our friend Richard Shamblin who recommended this guy, Robert. He got the job done!

Steve went back to work today, teasingly moaning about 'poor' him who had to go to work! HaHa.

But really, it's okay. An hour and a half till nap time and I have a candy bar with my name on it in the glove compartment of our car. And it hasn't been that bad AND I don't have to clean any windows in the cold! (Though I probably should!) And now, I don't have to wash the bathroom floor either. Not only that, but with Vitali sitting here so nicely on my lap, my sinuses are quite clear. I wonder how long he will smell like Icy Hot?! I guess it could have been worse!

Another Day at Home

Today Max and Misha and I headed out early for Max to see the dentist. Max's teeth are in very rough shape and we are looking at 4 extractions and 5 fillings. The plan is to do these at the local Children's hospital under anesthesia. We have appointments with the boys' MD for February 11th so we will see what, if any, tests he might want to run and will do all these at the same time as the oral surgery. As a whole, the boys are very healthy other than Max's teeth.

(Melissa here: Misha's teeth are pretty bad too but he wouldn't let the dentist see his mouth today. Max took 10 minutes to open his mouth. He was afraid. Apparently, this isn't his first visit to a dentist. If it is, he must have heard horror stories from somewhere. He was terrified. Poor guy!)

Max has a bit of something that looks like a lazy eye.

Misha has very sensitive skin so for him, we have switched laundry soap.

Vitali has a very serious case of: I-run-into-everything-and-throw-stuff-including-
tantrums-and-fall-all-the-time-itis with a few whack-a-mole tendencies!

We have been deliberate about sharing our process because one of our goals has been to raise awareness about the plight of the 150,000,000 lost children worldwide. Please do not be afraid to ask us questions! We will do our best to answer them. Some we will answer openly here, some more open in person or by email and some we won't be able to answer because we have to respect our sons' privacy.

Here are a few recent questions:

Why did you choose Ukraine?/ Why did you not adopt domestically?/ Why not Africa, China, etc?

There are 150,00,000 lost children so we had to say no to 149,999,997 to say yes to 3. We carefully looked at our goals and objectives and chose international adoption based on Matthew 25:45 we tried to look for "the least of these". We also looked closely at Rwanda, Estonia, India, Russia, Hungary and Azerbaijan but these were not the right places for us.

Children in the USA have a chance. It is true that 40% of US foster children will end up in the penal system at some time but if an American child applies himself he has significant opportunity. Most children overseas who apply themselves will still end up as educated prostitutes, drug addicts, cadavers or criminals. The chances one of these lost children has is almost zero!

We chose Ukraine because we thought it gave us the best opportunity for success. We knew the cost of this adoption would be staggering and so we knew we wouldn't have the funds to do it over. After careful analysis and prayer we settled on Ukraine. Our sons were in Ukraine!

What happened to the boys' birth family? What do you know about the birth family?

We know almost nothing to be honest. Of what we do know, we will only share a minimal amount here. The boys had a single mother and her rights were terminated for cause based on a singular traumatic event . Our boys lived in the orphanage for 4 years and in 2006, the boys were placed on the Ukrainian database for adoption.

Our boys finally became available for adoption on December 6, 2007. We traveled to Ukraine on December 7, 2007. The reality is the boys have never really known "a family;" they are just now learning what it means to have a family. (Misha told the translator today: "we eat good, we sleep good, and we have a mama and papa")

How much did it cost? How did you pay for it?
We are still adding up the costs, but at this point the direct costs look to be about $40,000. This includes lawyers' fees, Ukraine costs, room and board, airfare, US immigration expenses, home study expenses, etc. The indirect costs include 2 months lost income, home improvements and supplies necessary to accommodate three new children, and a vehicle for a family of eight. These costs are in excess of $25,000. There will be significant additional costs associated with Max's dental work. We paid for all of this $1.00 at a time.

We had saved about $12,000 prior to starting. We began paying for items as they came. We cut our expenses as much as possible. My business grew about 15% this year. We had nearly 50 people financially invest in us and our children. We have spent more money on this adoption than we make in a year and have done it without going into debt. It might be the "church answer" but apart from God this would not have been possible!

Can you afford these boys? How will you pay for college?
Yes, we can afford the additional expense of these boys but the reality is that we will have to make sacrifices. We are not going to be able to do things we might have been able to had we not had three more mouths. The reality is that these boys are our 'why'. When you know your 'why' and choose to ignore it, that is a rather precarious spot to be in!

College will come sooner than we expect but the reality for our boys, and other children like them, is that they would have been facing much larger issues such as suicide, drug addiction, or exploitation. Our boys will not lack for opportunity or education. The opportunity might be difficult and come at a cost but they will not lack.


Steve

At rest, for now.

How sweet is this?!

It's sweeter than you think. Little Vitali has resisted bedtime and cuddling right from the start. Allowing us to hold him close only when he was afraid or nervous(which, thankfully, was fairly often). Today, he has asked me several times to rock him, he snuggled up to me for his nap and when I went up to go to bed just now, this is what I saw. Our little boy snuggled up with his new daddy, sound asleep. He looks so tiny, doesn't he? Well, he is! But, oh man, can that boy fill a room!

I thought this was worth digging out the tripod to take the picture in the dark!

Melissa

Absolute Gain Costs Absolute Loss

After arriving in Knoxville on Saturday we were greeted by several friends and family. The local NBC affiliate WBIR was there and did a story about the journey to our boys. You can find the story here and the video here.

There have been several challenges the last week but the boys behavior has improved significantly. Bedtime is no longer a battle and the boys go to bed and stay. We went to church yesterday and the boys had a chance to see their classes and we sat through the songs and then had to leave because the boys were getting loud. We have gotten so much help and for that we are so grateful and cannot thank all of you enough.

Tomorrow Max and I will be going to an appointment with the pediatric dentist. Max's teeth are in very rough shape and will need extensive work. Somehow he is not in pain; I don't know how! A special thanks to Dr. Irwin for helping us get such a quick appointment.

It has been said, that these boys are "lucky", fortunate, and have gained everything. The reality is that to gain everything these boys have lost everything. Little Vitali is usually very happy but periodically he will sadly ask about going to the "detsky dom" (baby orphanage.) The reality is our boys have lost their entire identity. Absolute gain has cost our boys what they knew as home. Absolute gain has cost them what they knew as family. Absolute gain has cost them everything they were familiar with. Absolute gain has cost these boys absolute loss!

Please remember our boys as they go through these next few weeks. While we see the ultimate gain they are experiencing the loss. Please pray that as the weeks past they continue to make this transition smoothly. Pray that the boys will continue to accept our love. Please pray that God will restore to them the lost years and help them to become Godly men. Please pray for our girls as they must sacrifice their time right now with us for their brothers. Please pray for Melissa and I; for our health, that we will be rested, and remember our commitment to each other.

Thanks,

Steve

Pictures!

These pictures may not be in perfect order but just be happy I have the time to post them! All six kids are in bed and the only ones awake are Hannah and Annette who are still so excited and who don't have jet lag!

Enjoy! It is good to be home!

(Steve and Max leaving the Internaut for the last time. As I was taking this picture, Max kept turning around and saying, "Mama! Idee Suda!" or, 'come on!')

(Maximus Stephen Eimers on his last day at the Internaut. He was very proud to be leaving and very proud of his new clothes.)

(Poor Vitali was napping when we went to pick him up. Here he is with his little fists full of cookies and candy as the ladies there got him dressed in his "going home" clothes.)

(Misha was very excited about going in the car again!)

(Stuck in DC.
Almost-Uncle Rick is a fireman and he and his friends there treated the boys to a tour of the trucks. Right after we left Rick called us and said that a guy had just come on duty who spoke Russian. Too bad we missed him!)

(Vitali on Babushka Eimers' lap in the airport before our flight was canceled.)

(Max with some of the balloons that Grandma Eimers and Aunt Laurie brought with them. When Max saw them coming he ran and wrapped his arms around Steve's mom calling out, what else? "Baboooshka!!!")

(Our little guys loved the planes. The passengers around us were smiling as the boys chattered loudly in excited Russian to each other during takeoff.)

(Vitali's new haircut. )

(Max showing off his new cut.)

(Misha was the one most changed in appearance by his hair cut. He looks like a different boy. He was so proud!)

Best of all.
The whole family together at last.
I hope to get a better photo soon but this will do for now. Pretty amazing, isn't it?

Good News:

We have three new Americans!!!

Through a whirlwind of providence, we left Karkhiv on the afternoon train Tuesday with all our boys and their passports in tow. Then we arrived in Kiev late that night, put the boys to bed at midnight only to get them up at 7:30 so we could be out of the apartment at 8:00am to head out for the days' work.

We began with the doctor's office, then went to the American consulate where, because of our American status, we went right in past a long line of waiting Ukrainians. We were there for our final documents: the visas for the boys. We filled out the necessary paperwork and handed over all our documents bearing those all important blue stamps. Because I was going to be flying out in the morning, I asked if there were any things I needed to sign to assure that Steve could finish up after I left. When they realized that we both had tickets for the morning but that Steve had to stay behind with the boys to wait for the visa, they suggested that we wait a bit and see if they couldn't hurry up and get us done that day. Sure enough, by the end of the day, we had our visas in hand and were hurriedly packing to head to America!!! On our original tickets, saving us the change fee and another night of the miserable bedtime "routine". (another story) This practically never happens so that, in itself was amazing. That and getting the visas so quickly.

We were up in the morning at 5:00am ready to be picked up at 5:30 to head to the airport. I have told you before that Steve's mom and sister were planning to escort us home. They were going to fly out of the US on the same morning that we ended up leaving. Instead, they were going to meet us at the airport in Washington DC.

I was so excited to get home but the plane ride was miserable! Despite our attempts to drug the boys with Benadryl, Misha and Max never slept all day (26 hours) and Vitali slept only 2 and a half hours, and then only after he terrorized the whole coach section with tantrums and whining and throwing things. We felt so bad about it! And not just because we were being driven nuts ourselves!

The people were so nice and understanding and several people played with the boys and shared toys with them, particularly Misha, who loved to talk to people and make friends. Max was fascinated by the remotes and the seat-back televisions. He kept pretty busy with that. That and locking himself in the bathroom.

That flight was awful for us. But our miserable situation attracted attention and most people were interested to hear about our adoption and the boys, saying how wonderful it was for the boys and all. Especially remarkable were several ladies travelling home to the Deep South. One of them dug out a pack of gum and gave it to us at the gate to replace the one that we took out of Misha's mouth after he had picked it off the garbage can. Very nice ladies they all were.
Also, the Romanian-American Grandmother that was the MVP of the flight. She was finally able to get Vitali to sleep where he stayed for the final 2 and a half hours of the trip! Ahhhh, sweet quietness!

Customs wasn't any better but it was shorter. In fact, the boys were so awful there that they moved us to the head of a two-hour line; something I felt bad about but was very much appreciated.

In Washington, we saw Babushka Eimers and Aunt Laurie coming from afar; Red, white and blue balloons sailing above them. Three mylar balloons in the the shape of American flags were bopping around on the mix as well. We pointed them out to the boys and Misha and Max went running full tilt and calling, "Babushka!" I got it on video, it was so sweet.

There we got the news that our flight to Knoxville was canceled after having been delayed several times. Steve asked me if we should start crying now or wait till later. We decided to wait. :-) Laurie's fiancee has a home here in the DC area and we all were able to crash at his house. By the end of the day, 26 hours later, we went to sleep and slept soundly, the boys having fallen asleep in the car. ( thank the Lord!)

The flight out today was too full for us to make it and so we will be flying out tomorrow morning and arriving in Knoxville at around 10:00 am. I can hardly wait to see the girls and to just be home! I was disappointed to be delayed but especially so because of the girls. I felt so bad knowing that they have been so understanding and have sacrificed so willingly for so long and now, to be so excited that we were coming home only to have to wait two more days... I get teary just thinking about it!

Today we took the boys to a mall here. They rode a carousel, went to the shoe store where we settled on light-up sneakers (I took video there too, so cute to see them stomping their feet proudly to see the lights.) We also got them haircuts! They are sooooo cute in their new hairdos! What an amazing difference.

I know I will see many of you tomorrow morning. I can't wait to have you meet our boys! We love them to pieces! We hope you will too.

Keep praying pleeeeease! I won't lie; this is a real challenge! But we don't regret it, we can't, it's all just so important and we love them too much.

Da Zaftra (Until tomorrow),
Melissa

Ps. It's too busy here right now but I am hoping to post some pictures here later. Keep and eye open!

Today and tomorrow and the next day...

The doors where we first saw Max. He came to these doors and then stopped in the doorway, nervous and so vulnerable looking. Our hearts melted!

Vitali snuggled under Steve's arm

Tomorrow, we check Max out of the orphanage! Yep, starting tomorrow, we will start our parenting duties officially. I am not really sure what it will be like. He will be leaving everyone he knows, his group, his Mot (group mothers), his home and very soon, his homeland! All of this and then his language too! I ache for him but I ache in the way a mother does when she knows that what is best for her child may hurt him for a while. You can understand, right?

I am glad that Max will not be going to America alone but will be with his brothers. This will be one thing from his home land that he will not be separated from!

On Tuesday, we will check Misha and Vitali out of their orphanage and then we will all catch the train to Kiev. There, we will spend one full day all together and then I will head back to America (by way of Austria--I am really nervous about this--please pray for me! To connect, I have to switch airlines in a foreign airport with all its signs in a foreign language!)

Steve and Alla will stay with the boys and, while I am flying home, Steve's mom and sister will be on their way here! They will help Steve to get through the airport. This will be important. We realized how important when we had the boys for the day in the city. Misha has no fear and wants to see everything and if we weren't actually watching him directly, he absolutely would leave the room! Not only that but if we called him, he would laugh and run away. Needless to say, this will not be good in an airport!

Today is Sunday. This morning we met "Papa Dima" as he is called by the children. We attended his church with him (Russian speaking) He is a man here in Kharkiv who takes Sunday school to the orphanages and the TB hospital in the area. We were able to give him a gift from our Sunday school class that will help him buy quite a few Bibles, Sunday school materials, and small necessities for the children he serves! He was very thankful and since he has known our boys for five years, he asked to come to the train station to see us off. Isn't that so nice for our boys? Their final goodbye from their city will be from the one guy who has been Jesus to them every week. I am so grateful for this man and his ministry. There are several who have come to help him on mission trips or whatever and it was from some of these that we have heard stories of our boys and gotten pictures of them before we knew them! God is good!

Just now, we are in the internet cafe and our translator will meet us here and we will go to lunch. After that, our friends, Keith and Wendy will meet us again (just Steve and I) under the statue of Lenin again and we will go to their church service (in English). After that, we plan to go out to dinner with them since their home is getting new windows today--yes, in January--brrr!

We are continually blessed by the people we have met, by our friends and family back home and by this great opportunity to love these boys! This is quite an adventure, let me assure you, but well worth it!

Melissa

Update with pictures

(I had more pictures but this one took 15 minutes to load so I guess this will be it!)

We have been unable to post because we have been so busy the last few days. (And because the ADSL, as were the washer and elevator, that we were assured was here—was not!) We left Knoxville Sunday morning at 11:00 am with our friends Richard and Ginger, who took us to Atlanta. Ginger had prepared a nice lunch and we had a good visit on the way. We stayed overnight with Melissa’s Aunt Susan and Uncle Steve. In the morning we left for the airport and flew to JFK in New York and then onto Kiev. We arrived in Kiev and went to the train station and waited for 6 hours. We both fell asleep on the couches in the waiting area and we learned that you MUST NOT fall asleep on the couches for too long. It is interesting to be shaken awake by a police man in full camouflage speaking Russian! We finally took the 6 hour train ride to a very cold, 0 (F), Kharkov. At 00:15 am Wednesday we finally were able to go to bed!

In the morning, we picked up our court decree and went to see the boys and get some more documents. This ended up being a ten-hour day of driving and sitting in waiting rooms and freezing!

The next day was similar to the first, another ten hours of driving and documents and waiting and being a little less freezing (not because it was warm but because we were getting used to being freezing!)

Today was our favorite day so far. Why? Because we had to take our three boys TOGETHER to get pictures for passports and visas. We picked up Misha and Vitali first. Misha hopped happily into the car but Vitali stiffened and was obviously petrified of the car! Despite taking him around the car and letting him look it over and despite the sight of Misha’s ear-to-ear grin from inside the car, he would not calm down! What was the problem? We asked out translator. Turns out that most likely all of his car trips have involved trips to the doctor at the hospital which were not good experiences for him at all. Alla, our translator, assured him that we were absolutely not going to the hospital today and he submitted and snuggled up with Mama and stopped crying. Poor little guy!

We drove the short distance to Max’s orphanage and Misha was so excited to see his brother again. I (Melissa) waited in the car with he and Vitali watching him alternate between eager anticipation of seeing Max and being pre-occupied with the dome light.

Before long, Max was in view. Misha started exclaiming with joy, “Maxeeeeemmmm! (and a bunch of other stuff in Russian).”

Max was also excited to see Misha again, but the most touching part to us was after we were all settled in the car, Max kept looking over to Vitali, whom Max has not seen since he was one year old, and reaching out and petting his head or his cheek and, for most of the trip, holding his hand. He asked us, “ Eta Vitali?”(It is Vitali?) “Skolka (something) Vitali” (How many years is Vitali?)

“Three”, we told him. “And you?”

“Nine,” he said. (he’s eight) grinning, but again reaching up to pet his ‘Malinky’ (little) brother’s cheek. Then, back to holding his hand.

We had a great day with the boys. We enjoyed spotting every ‘Avtobus’ (bus), ‘Tram vye’ (electric bus), tractor, and ‘poiesd’ (train). Even a ‘Cemailot’ (airplane)! I don’t need to tell you all that with three girls, these have not been items of interest on our travels so far! The three boys and Steve and I were all sitting snuggled up in the back of a little car the size of a Ford Escort. It sounds cramped but it was wonderful—that is, until after our McDonald’s trip when Vitali threw up all over himself and Steve! (Just a quick note from Steve!) [In 8 years of having our girls I wasn’t vomited on once. I worked very hard on this and in our very first visit with all 3 boys, my crown has fallen! Vitali was also quite intrigued by standing up to use the urinals in the men’s rooms. We are going to have to find out how to say “don’t stare” in Russian! Courts can say you are the parent but getting thrown up on makes you the parent!!!]

Still, at the end of the day, it is easy for us to say that this was our best visit yet! To see Max with Vitali, so tender, and to have Vitali so unusually snuggly and sweet (he even hugged us both without being asked several times), and seeing them all together—oh this was wonderful! And we can not wait to get our boys home! Now, more than ever!

Keep praying! I am planning to fly home on Thursday and Wendy and Laurie, Steve’s mom and sister will likely fly here around then. Our hopes are that early the week of the twenty-first our sons will set foot in America!

Going to Get Our Boys

We left Knoxville yesterday at 11:00 am and are now in Atlanta at Melissa's Aunt Susan. We are headed to the airport and then to JFK and onto Kiev. We will then take our 190 km/hr (115mph) taxi ride into Kiev and catch the fast train to Kharkov at 5:00 pm Tuesday evening. We will get picked up at the train station and arrive at our apartment about midnight on Tuesday.

Wednesday morning we will pick up our court decree and go see the boys. The boys will stay at the orphanage until at least Friday because we have some very long 12 hour days in a little Daewoo. Over the next few days we will be working on getting new birth certificates, id #'s and passports and of course more of Ukraine's lovely blue notary stamps! We are not quite sure how long all this will take and what new laws might have taken effect on January 1st.

After getting everything in order we will head to Kiev with the boys. We will have to sign several US immigration forms for the boys, have physicals for immigration and get 3 US visas for the boys as they will be traveling on Ukrainian passports. My mom and sister Laurie will be flying into Kiev and helping us escort the boys home.

Please continue to pray for the process of collecting documents.
Pray for our family's health and stamina these next few weeks.
Pray that our boys will bond with us.

Thanks to everybody. Got to run!

Thanks,

Steve Eimers

Our Sons!

Getting ready

We are spending today setting up house...
a house that includes three boys and three girls, that is!

First, we dismantled the bed that was Ivy and Annette's and moved it out of the way. Next, we rolled up the big pink rug--won't be needing that in there! Then we dismantled the bunk beds from Hannah's old room and reassembled them in Ivy and Annette's old room. This is where Max and Misha will sleep.

Yesterday was spent shopping for gifts and necessities. Necessities being things like shoes, bed sheets (one set each, we'll have to get more later.) , blue blankets and this coordinating set of flannel shirts at $3 a shirt! (Couldn't pass that up, could I?)

And toys being things like some matchbox cars, the little Spiderman card table you see above, a wooden train and track, a few noisy rescue vehicles with sirens (I know, what were we thinking?), and a bunch of plastic dinosaurs.

Sizes. Many of you have asked about the boys' sizes. Another thing we did yesterday was take our measurements to Walmart and figure out what sizes they are. This is how it breaks down:

Max is a boy's size 7. Actually, he seems to be a small seven or a big six but we'll stick with seven so he won't grow out of things too quickly! Adjustable waistbands would probably be good for him. His shoe size is a children's 2.

Misha is a boy's size 5/6T. This means 5T is too short and 6x was a little long. When in doubt, go with the larger size. No "slims" for Misha. He's not chubby by American standards at all but, by orphanage standards, he is. :-) Misha's shoe size is a children's 12.

Vitali is a pretty straightforward toddler's size: 3T. His shoe size is a children's 9.

We leave again on Sunday to head to Atlanta and the next morning we will be at the airport boarding the first plane of our return journey to Ukraine. I hate to go, but at the same time, I can't wait! You know what I mean, don't you?!

We are really missing the boys this week.

Love to you all,
Melissa

Meet the “WHY”

Our pastor will often say “You can live with any ‘how’ as long as you know your ‘why’.”

I would like to introduce you to our WHY!!!

Maximus “Max” Stephen Eimers

Max is eight years old. His birthday is 09-27-99. Max is in the second grade. He likes to draw and paint. Max is considerate and caring of the other children and caregivers. Max is very proud of us as his parents and has been the star of the orphanage the last few weeks. Max is the only one of the three that has a clue that we don’t speak or understand Russian!

Max, Mom and Dad


Max and Misha meet each other again after over a year of being separated in different orphanages. (The orphanages were only 1,000 feet apart)

Max beside his bed in his group.

Mikhail “Misha” James Eimers

Misha is six years old. His birthday is 07-12-01. Misha is in kindergarten. Misha loves trains and candy. Misha is never one to be too shy. Misha is probably the most sensitive and outgoing of the three boys. His eyes are full of life!

Misha, Vitali, and Daddy (Vitali with his cut on his forehead)


Misha always ready for a picture


Vitali Luke Eimers

Vitali is a bundle of energy and four years old. Vitali’s birthday is 03/29/04. He is a free spirit but has grown fonder of us with each visit. Little Vitali is apt to climb up you while you are not looking and then tumble off into a heap. Vitali is the odds on favorite to be the first boy to go get stitches. Vitali likes anything he can carry around and show off and tell everybody it is HIS!

Vitali our blue eyed bundle of Energy!


Vitali loves being up in the air. His first English word was "again" his second was "I love you."

Vitali on the run again!

Court went well and the judge declared us parents of Max, Misha, and Vitali!!!!!! We are back in the states now because Ukraine is going on holiday until 7 January. The cost for airline tickets or room, board, and transportation was about the same so we are headed home for about 12 days to prepare for the boys. We arrive back in Ukraine on 8 January and then chase more “blue stamps!!!!” (passports, birth certificates, etc, etc.)

This is the end of the beginning! How is it going to play out? I don’t know! We still have about 3 weeks of chasing papers in Ukraine and then life. Vitali has never known a “family”, Misha was too young to remember “family” and Max deserved better! We are now the parents of six children, three girls and three boys. We promise to do the best we can to raise all these children in a Godly way.

For those who have partnered with us financially we cannot thank you enough. We had financially prepared to adopt these boys for several years but the total direct and indirect costs were over $60,000. Your generous gifts have allowed Max, Misha, and Vitali to have a family. We cannot adequately thank you enough!!

Steve and Melissa Eimers and our children;

Hannah 8, Max 8, Misha 6, Annette 5, Vitali 3, and Ivy 2

Court Update

We had court on 12-26 and all went well.  The judge declared us the parents of Max, Misha, and Vitali.  We are now back in the USA and will return to Ukraine on 7 January.  Ukraine is essentially closed for business until 8 January and it was essentially the same price to come home as stay.  Our friends Marie and Dayaker will be picking us up today.  WE WILL POST PICTURES THIS AFTERNOON.

Steve

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Even waaaay away from home over here in Ukraine, we still celebrated the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

We were priviledged to be invited to the home of Keith and Wendy, the missionaries I told you about before. Also there were their children, Shelby and Ryan and some of their friends, Sergei, Natalie, and Amanda. Keith read us the Christmas story and we took a few moments to think on the real reason this day is special. We had a nice time all of us together and too much food! I think that dining room chairs should have a recliner option for days like this! So we thank our friends from America for the great company and fellowship. Before we left, we took a moment and Wendy said a prayer for us and the boys especially for tomorrow's court proceedings!

Our court date is tomorrow at 10:00am local time and that means it is 3:00am Eastern Standard Time. Any of you who find themselves awake tonight (maybe some indigestion from the good food?!) are invited to remember us in prayer. If not just for the court proceedings, then for our nerves! It should go fine but....well, you understand....

We are leaving Kharkiv tomorrow by train and Ukraine on Friday by plane and will be arriving back in the States late Friday Evening. We are hoping to stay with my Aunt who lives there(--I need to pass that along to her!) Then on Saturday our friend Dayakar has graciously offered to pick us up and take us home to our girls! I can hardly wait to see them!

Please pray for us! Our nerves, our boys, our facilitator, our judge and our lawyer. Thank you for standing with us in this way. I will let you know as soon as I can! I don't know how that will play out though since we will also be travelling tomorrow! So much is happening!

I hope you all are having a very Merry Christmas! I keep remembering this verse today. You all know it. It begins like this: "Our Father, who is in Heaven..." Yes, the Lord's Prayer. Why that verse? Because with this adoption so prevalent in our thoughts today, we can't help but to remember that, as it says in the book of Romans in the Bible, "It is by the spirit of adoption that we can call, Abba, Father... This is the gift that Christ came to give. What a gift.

Swahili Anybody?

Wow!!

We went to church today with our new friends Wendy and Keith. There were people from Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, USA, Ukraine, Russia, Mauritania, India, Pakistan, Bahrain, Iraq, China, Cote D'Ivoire, Congo and so on.

We even got to hear the choir sing a Swahili song. This Ukrainian church had three African visitors several years ago who asked if they may attend services because no other church in this city of 1.5 million would allow them to worship because of their color. Today there were over 100 people of different races from over 20 countries attending services together. It was so nice to see so many smiling happy faces.

I have some incredible video I will post later.

Steve

PS Anybody in the mood for some FRESH FISH?

This and That

There are stray cats and dogs everywhere. At Misha and Vitali’s orphanage there are four dogs. There is the no tail stray, ¼ tail stray, ½ tail stray, and full tail stray. I don’t know where the rest of the tails went to.

The other day there was a little cat stuck way up in a tree just down the road so we tried to coax him down. We tried English, Russian, Catonese and bribing with food but nothing worked. We went by the same tree the next night and he was gone and there were no cat pancakes below so he must have made it!

Here is a picture of the most rag-tag looking dog at Max’s orphanage. He is in dog heaven sitting on a huge pile of trash. He had huge tufts of hair and was crazy looking!

BREAKING NEWS

WE SAW THE SUN TODAY!!!!!

Not all day but at least for an hour!

We just wanted to let everybody know we have decided to adopt again it is going to be from Hawaii!

Just kidding!

Pray for court on the 26th at 10:00 am local time in Ukraine and 3:00 am EST

Coming Home and Going Back

Steve on the short walk from Misha and Vitali’s orphanage to Max’s internot. It is uphill both ways and we have to walk it in bare feet!



Max loves taking pictures and this is one he took of us setting up the “Yolochka” (Christmas tree) Max will stage toys and take pictures of them. One of the words we have learned well is “pukozhitsa! pukozhitsa!” (show me, show me) because they want to see the picture on the back of the camera.

One of the boys in Max’s group with his banana and “Machina” (car) that we were able to give the children for St. Nicholas day on December 19th. A special thanks to all those who gave us gifts to share with the children.

We will post pictures of our boys after court.

We are coming home on the 27th of December and will come back to Ukraine to finish the rest of the paperwork and pick up the boys when we get back to Ukraine on January 8th. Ukraine likes celebrating holidays and the Government has declared December 28th through January 7th as a holiday! This means we can do nothing towards finishing up the paperwork. It is nearly the same price to stay here or go home so we have chosen to go home. This will allow us to prepare the boys’ rooms, re-energize, visit with our girls and just relax!

We are so eager to be home with the girls but we are torn by wanting to stay here with the boys. We know the boys are being treated well but that does not make leaving them any easier. We will leave plenty of snacks and toys for the boys and call them occasionally. We are trying to emphatically let the boys and the orphanage staff understand that we are coming back!

Today we both feel a little lousy and are trying some of the items our friend Ginger sent us and some of the folic acid our friend Joe at Prescription Specialties compounded for us. Please pray that we will feel better tomorrow.

We headed out to see the boys at 9:00 this morning but ended up chasing tickets all day. We stopped at Aerosvit and were told they had NO tickets until January 15th! We then headed to a travel agent who was closed and had a snack at a local coffee shop. The agents kept trying to find a direct ticket from Kiev to JFK to Knoxville and finally I told him to just get us a ticket whether it meant going through Amsterdam, Moscow, Vienna, or Australia! Our non-English speaking driver quipped in “maybe Peking!” Finallythe agent found us a ticket for $5,000 each to which we quickly said Nyet! He looked again and found that he could get us into Atlanta on the 27th and leave Atlanta on the 7th of January. We went ahead and booked the flight and headed out to the “Vagzal” (train station) to get our train tickets to Kiev. It was about noon so we were unable to make the long trip out to see the boys today and headed home until Zaftra (tomorrow)!

We still have to figure out how to get to Knoxville from Atlanta but that is only three hours and will be alot easier than trying to swim the Atlantic Ocean!

We have now been gone 14 days and seen the sun only once. It gets dark at about 3:45 pm so Ukraine competes very well with Buffalo for good weather this time of year!

It is incredible to see the different worlds in Ukraine. Misha and Vitali’s orphanage is a well kept facility but shows its age through uneven worn floors hidden under linoleum, layers of paint that make it impossible to shut the doors completely and fences that are sagging. Right next door though is a house that would compare to the best in America. It has a beautiful wall with a ornate fence on the top. It has a six car garage. The house is three stories tall and about 10,000 square feet. The house is easily a $2.5 million home. The disparity is striking!

Please keep us in your prayers as we head to court on December 26th!

Steve