Last Day in Ukraine pt. A

Rebecca & Lena in her bedroom.

This kids really know how to make a bed well. Every room we passed by was so organized.

Kids!

This is Lena's room. There are 4 beds to each room. The room is probably about 12' x 15'. Everything is so neat, clean and organized. Whenever we come to the orphanage the kids always start to congregate. They always grab the camera and start taking pictures and making movies. They love to see themselves on the playback screen.

Dale with Dima on the last day.

This is the happiest little 13 year old in the world who needs a home. He is a soccer stud and shares his rollerblades with anybody who asks. If you are reading this, think of someone you know that has a home for him. He made us promise that we would look for a home for him.

Dale watching Pashas Musical Performances

Pasha and Lena have performed all over the Ukraine playing the Ukrainian traditional flute and singing. They both are gifted musically. They love to have someone that they can "show off" to in a good way. It is fun to hear over and over...."Mom/Dad watch". Victor (on the left) is another one of the cute boys in the orphanage.

Orphanage for Children Under 8

Today on the way out of town we met with the director to bestow a small financial gift to help upgrade the facilities, which is tradition from an adopting family. We met him at the orphanage for kids under 8. While we were there it was the traditional 1:00 to 3:00 nap hour. There were many rooms just like the one shown with kids napping. It was incredible to see. The orphanage was so clean and the people working there were kind and genuine in their care of the kids. What an experience.

Last Day in Ukraine Pt. B

Dale, Rebecca, Masha(interpreter) & Oleg (facilitator)

Unbeleiveable. This is where we picked up the final document. Oleg was amazing as always and Masha was so easy to work with everyday. We have spent everyday, all day for the last 10 days with these two and they are now like family. They were simply amazing and driven. We have grown to love and appreciate them and their commitmment to the kids.

Dale having fun!

Funny Story! This old Ukrainian man was walking down the street and and was carrying a heavy potato sack of belongings. He would stop every 30 seconds and switch hands. Finally he crossed the road and had to have a smoke to regain his strength. I grabbed his bag and and motioned that I would carry it for him. He talked the entire time and I just nodded my head. He never even know that I had no clue what he was saying and I had no clue that he was on the 5th floor of his building. Anyway just fun to see people happy. These people work so hard for everything here.

Sunflower Fields for 50 Miles!

On the way to Kiev from Sumy (5 hour trip) the sunflower fields were so amazing to look at for miles and miles. Some fields were in full bloom and a solid sea of yellow. Many fields were 5 miles long. What a beautiful country and there are many things we will miss.

Tonight we will stay in Kiev and catch a flight HOME in the morning. Can't wait to see the kids and stop sweating. We have grown to love Ukraine, the people and the culture, but still no place like home (Dorthy was correct). We will be home Saturday late and I (Dale) will travel back to get the kids the first week of August after the 10 day waiting period. We can't wait for that day! Thanks for all your prayers, there were many miracles.

Day in Court - Thursday

It is Official! Pasha & Lena Gledhill !!!!!

It only took 2 years to get to this point. We made it! The judge ruled that the kids last name will now be Gledhill and in 10 days they can go to America to be with their new family. Lena was all smiles until she learned about the Ukraine 10 day grace period. Court lasted about 45 minutes and there were some tough questions. Faith and prayers once again prevailed! Oleg (facilitator) and Masha (interpreter) were amazing as always and had us prepared for court.

Pasha and Dale with awesome looking menu

After court we went out to have a big Ukranian traditional dinner. Pasha was all smiles because I told him to order anything he wanted, and he did! The food was great and everybody was so happy. We are all so releived to finally be done with court.

Celebration Dinner with Us, kids, Masha and Stockwells

Our Cute Lena!

She dressed up for court and was so proud of her high heels. They hurt her feet, but she loved looking beautiful. We are glad she is only 13. I am sure we will have plenty of boys over to the house between Lena and Anndraea our other daughter.

The real Pasha. Happy, Happy....Happy!

This is how a boy looks that has just eaten like a king and gained a family. The picture says it all.

We called our kids in Utah tonight and Pasha and Lena grabbed the phone and both said, " I am your new brother...I am your new sister". They can't wait to get to America and join the family! See you soon!

Wednesday in Sumy

Greek Orthodox Church

Today was kind of a laid back day. The facilitator was busy with Stockwells in court along with the translator so we used this day to catch up on wash and I (dale) spent time following up with emails. We also spent part of the day wandering the city looking at the many cathedrals and small shops. There are so many people on the street in the middle of the day, we wondered how high the unemployment rate is in the Ukraine.

Lake with Swimmers

While out on the walkabout we crossed several bridges and watched the people swim in the lakes/rivers. It is so hot today (again) and the number of people in the lakes swimming is unbeleiveable.

New Shoes!

Following up from yesterday, we were able to get Lena some shoes/Sandals with soles. She was so happy and grateful and told us how beautiful they were. It is fun to have these simple surprizes mean so much.

The big news today is that the amazing OLEG, our facilitator was able to finalize 99% of our paperwork and he has a court appointment tomorrow with the judge in the afternoon. This is ahead of schedule and really amazing. All I can say is prayers are being answered and mountains are moving. The kids are so excited and they can't wait for the meeting tomorrow because they know this means they can be officially be adopted. They want to come to America so bad. We only spent about 2 hours with the kids this evening and they were fine until we had to go back to our apartment. They really wanted us to stay.

FYI: for the families getting ready to come to the Ukraine: The food is really good and we have found a great little pizza shop that is inexpensive and fast. We thank the Lord daily for his involvement in this process. We miss home!

Tuesday at the Orphanage Pt. A

This is the road to the swimming hole.

Today our facilitator is in Kiev so we had the day to just be with the kids. They were so excited to just "hang out". We were told we could not take them anywhere off the orphanage area today so the the kids wanted to go to their favorite swimming hole. It is hot and it helps to cool them off from the heat during the middle of the day. It is about 102 plus Humidity. I have never sweat so much before in my life.

A real "in use" 50ft deep water well.

Just 5 feet from the dirt road was this working water well. The kids stoped and lowered the bucket down about 50 feet to get fresh water for a drink. This well is used everyday by many people who live near by to get their water. If I hadn't of seen it I wouldn't believed it. In some ways it was so fun to see and experience.

Lena drinking the cold fresh water. (Dima on the left)

The kids love to get a cold drink on the way to the swimming hole and on the way back. It takes us about 25 min. to walk each way on the dirt road.

We made it. The kids could not wait to get in. Off comes the shorts and their underwear works perfect for swimming trunks. Lots of mud!

The Gang Plank at the Ole' Swimming Hole

Dale and I watched the perfect " Normal Rockwell " painting LIVE today as we sat at the swimming hole . It was wonderful! We did not swim, learning from our friends the Stockwells who told us last time they came here Matt(the dad) got sick from having swallowed some water. Happy to just to watch. There was so much moss in the water but no big deal to the kids. They are so happy and the air was filled with sounds of laughter and splashing. We spent most of the afternoon there and all the kids could say was . . . . . " Watch me" " Watch me". They were so happy to have someone to show off too. I know I have said it before but everything is just so emotional to me. I never relized how important it really is to a child to have a Mom or a Dad to say "watch me". Great time!

Tuesday at the Orphanage pt. B

This is Marina who is being adopted by the MacBeths.

Card Games

After Swimming the kids still look to us as their entertainment directors. There is just really nothing to do at the Orphange. We brought cards and taught them how to play a new game called "golf". They were thrilled to do something new and it was hard to get them to stop when it was time to leave.

Well, this is different!

It is so hot here and I am drinking so much water which creates a new set of challenges. I needed to use the bathroom and this is what there is in the Orphange. I looked at Lena and said " what do i do with this" She just laughed and so did I ...kind of.

Tired Shoes

These are Lena's shoes and each child has their own pair of shoes. If this doesn't break your heart, what will? The inside has nothing left for cushioning and are as thin as paper. These kids need shoes. They never complain and are always happy with what they have or wear for the day. They are teaching us so much.

Monday in Sumy part B

We finally finished with the facilitator and met up with kids. They wanted to go to the park where they could play on some carnival rides. (Lagoon to us). When we arrived at the park, Stockwells(the other adopting family) and us just looked at each other wondering what century the rides were built in. We seriously thought many of the rides were to old to work, but we were very wrong and the smiles proved it. The rides were built maybe around 1940. The bumber cars were the biggest blast to the kids and it was about the only ride Dale and I dared to attempt.

The ferris Wheel was just as much fun as any other ride to the kids. They appreciate and love everything and it is so refreshing to witness.

This however was a modern day ride. It was a giant inflatable paddel wheel. The kids climbed inside of it and would try to run and make it spin on the water. They laughed and laughed which was wonderful to hear.

This little device hangs on the wall where you give the man your money to ride on the paddle wheel. It is two "sand hour glasses". This is how the workers kept time on how long the kids could ride. Wow! I am just not quite sure what to even think anymore. The time was short with the kids today but they had so much fun. We can't wait to take them to lagoon upon returning home. We can only imagine what fun they will have. The kids have asked many times if the family can go to Disney Land. We told them yes of course, but not untill Gabriel returns home from his mission. They are happy to wait. Once again they are so easy to please.

Monday in Sumy part A

Our Lovely Apartment

We thought you would like to see where we are living. This is the outside of our apartment. We have three locked doors we go through just to get to our apartment. Pretty Safe!

We had another busy morning with our facilatator running around getting paperwork completed. Trust me, they know how to make paperwork in the Ukraine!

The mailboxes just inside the door

This picture does not do these mailboxes justice at all. They were built in 1920.

Ladies selling their goods on street everywhere

While we were running around getting paperwork completed today, we saw many ladies selling their fruits and vegtabels or other goods on the street. Everyday my heart grows closer to these people. They work so hard to make it through each day. It is not hard to be grateful

More on the kids in part 2.

Saturday - Sunday in Sumy

Dima at Orpahage

Its a big day! We have luggage!!!!!!!!!!!!

We learned a small sliver of how an orphan lives with 1 set of clothes. Good experience but we are grateful to have clean clothes.We had a great time with the kids at the orphanage Saturday. We also met Dima who is a sweet kind boy , 13 years old. He is a great soccer player. Yesterday we were talking with the all the kids and we later found out that Dima went off in tears. We learned that he wants a family. It was so hard on him to watch us, knowing that two of his friends are soon to leave with a Mom and Dad. This broke our hearts. I could hardly get home that night without crying in the taxi. It all came out when I walked in the apartment. I have never felt so humble.

Alexa at Church

This morning we went to church with the Stockwells who are also adopting from the same orphanage. Before we left I had read on their Blog about this member named Alexa. After Sacrament meeting the Stokwells introduced us to him. I could not control my emotions. I was overwhelmed with humility by his commitment to the gospel. Alexa is Deaf. He joined the church 15 years ago. His wife was angry with him and left him and forbid him to never see his daughter again. Alexa comes to church faithfully each week . He rides his bike 3 hours each way. His has a wonderful spirit. The missionaries are so good to him along with the rest of the branch. Each week someone sits next to him and writes down everything that is said so he can understand what is being said at the meetings. Again we are humbled and grateful for everything we have.

Pasha and Lena with the missionaries.

While we were at Church we learned that one of the missionaries Elder Stirling (left) was adopted from Russia at the age of 15. His family lives in Arizona. He is now serving in Sumy. We asked if Elder Stirling and his companion would come and talk with our kids and Stockwells about his story after church ,being adopted and joining the church. We feel blessed to have met him. This was Elder Stirlings last week at this branch before being transfered. We were all at the right place at the right time. It is no coincidence that this all happened . We know that we are in the lords hands right now.

First Day at the Orphanage

Ukrainian Lawn Mower (hand made sickle) Can you say time warp!

Security at Sumy SDA with Lena our wonderful interpreter

First visit with Lena and Pasha.

Friday we finally made it to the orphanage and spent time with all the kids. Pasha and Lena were so happy and excited to have us visit. They are really looking forward to living in America. They are such great kids with kind and energetic spirits. This joy helped us forget many of our luggage issues and was so fun to spend time in the orphanage.

The kids had to pick names for their passports today. From today forward, they will be known as Pasha Joshua Gledhill (16) and Lena Isabella Gledhill. We hope they will use their Ukranian name as their primary name when we get home. Anyway, they seem to be so happy and especially kind to all the kids in the orphanage.

First Post from Ukraine

Rebecca in Rome!

Today is Saturday and where do we begin. Due to the great customer service with Delta Airlines, we still do not have our luggage on day 5. Due to missed conneceting flights at JFK becasue of weather issues last Tuesday and we were re-routed thorugh Rome on the midnight flight. We made it to Kiev, just no bags.

So every night we wash our clothes and attempt various drying methods. One thing I have learned is that cotton dries pretty good in a microwave, however nylon catches on fire once the moisture is out of the material. Trust me...kids don't try this at home. Use your imagination here, Dales undershirt(?) looks like a haloween costume.

We left Kiev on Thursday and drove to Sumy. 5 hours of some of the most beautful agriculture in the world. There are sunflower fields that seem to go on forever. We will try to get a few pictures in a couple of days. When we arrived Sumy at midnight, the government had shut down the water for the entire city. God Bless America.

We borrowed the Stockwell's (this is a couple from Draper adopting) converter so we could finally charge the laptop and start adding posts.

The day before we leave

T- minus 32 hours and counting slowly.