More Cole....

Hi Everyone.... this is Emma's new brother Cole!!! We visited him this morning, but its still hot and we are not playing as well outside. We all cant wait to come home. Cole says "Hello Emma" He cant wait to play in the back yard with you.

Have a safe drive to florida.... watch lots of movies. We will spend the weekend, shopping, eating and sleeping..... we are the wild ones. We are working on coordinating our donation for the orphanage. They are checking with the director to see what the needs are. It is amazing the change in the last week. They have repainted all the outside toys, climbers etc. They are replacing wood on seats and benches. The grass has been trimmed and some dead trees removed. Its really looking good. They are working on getting the swimming pool in working condition for summer. Concrete and paint are every where.... flower beds are full of new plants. This is a nice facility.

Have a great weekend... not sure ifwe can get online tomorrow. Sunday is really a big "get out " day for most the locals. everything is crowded.

Take care .. love you and miss you. Kisses and Hugs to Emma from Mommy and Daddy.

PS dont forget my shell from florida!!!!

cole......

Emma this is your new brother Cole!!!!!!

FRIDAY, TOUR DAY!!!!

Hello everyone,

Things are well here, still no rain. but it is windy today. We went on a major tour today... all the sights this place has to see. the big dam, an 800 year old tree, the Cossack island and they even found Andy a botanical garden to tour. The head director walked with us and gave us the gardens info to pass on to White River state garden. The said they link with other nurserys across the world and were very excited about a possible contact in Indy. "plant swapping, I believe".

We made both our visits with Cole today. He is doing great. He has a little heat rash, but i think eveyone does. The orphanage is not air conditioned, but we think the little room they sleep in is. We see a window unit and drippy water. :)

Congratulation on your graduation Jody Brown!!!!!!!!!! We are so very proud of you!!!!!!

Emma you help grandma get all you stuff packed for florida. Remember a rocking buddy and a blanket. Dont forget your sunblock and your beach towel is in the top of the linen closet. We love an miss you emma.

We have all our pictures on a disk now.... we just need to find a place to download them. this cafe has all the disc slots blocked on the machines. bummer. I need someone to send me Jodys email if you want them sent to him .. or if he will let you on his new laptop I will just send them to dads. The file may be big so if I send it dad, I ask for you or jammy to redirect it to the rest of you and or post it here.


take care every one. time for another funfilled weekend in the Ukraine!!!

Wednesday.... shopping again!!

Hello!

We visited Cole this morning and he is doing fine. The women in the other areas of the orphanage come to visit him... we think he was a favorite in his prior class. The all know his name and he smiles a waves at them.
The women enjoy looking at the family photos we brought for Cole.

Our schedule will be busy the next few days. Tomorrow we get to take Cole to get his picture taken. our first family outting. Then we got apply for his passport at the notary office. Our interpreter, Roma, will be with us for this. Then on friday we are going a a tour of Zaporizhzhya. They have a hydraulic dam, a big island and a botanical garden we will be touring. We also get to go to Mc Donalds!!!!!! Yeah!!!!! Cheeseburgers for andy!! School is out here on friday i think... computer access will be harder. we will try in the AM before the kids are awake.

Emma, we are going to go shopping for you today..... new clothes or something fun!!! Hope you have fun at the farm. We love and miss you. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX Mommy, Daddy and Cole.

Its a boy!!!!!!

Hello!

Its official, he is our son and Emma's brother. The court went well. We went to a really large government building to met the translator... at 2 till 3:00 we still could not find him. Thru a series of phone calls we found out we were at the wrong large government building. This was a court house the size of a small office. We were only 2 minutes late. very nervous. the judge was a kind senior judge. he smiled and tried to keep us calm. After a series of questions....nothing major.. name, date of birth, can we care for him ... etc. He told us this was a noble thing we are doing and came back with a favorable decision on our behalf. We will have to wait the 10 day "petition" time and on the 11 day he will sign the decree. And we can then take Cole from the orphanage.
We will have a few days of paperwork and travel. We have to go to his birth town.. 3 hours away, get a passport, get a visa, a new birth certificate and a medical check up. Most of that is done in Kiev. We are about 11 hours by train from Kiev. yeah the count down has started!!

Cole is doing great. He cried really bad when we left him last night... it was sad. He can now say Hi, Bye, Yes, No, eye, ear, and marchy marchy..... ( when we walk, we march) . The staff seem impressed that he says Hi and Bye to us in english. He is very quick. He needs to play with his sister. You will want to show him your lace up cards emma.... i think he would like that.

Today we will go shopping for diaper bag stuff for Cole, a blanket to play on and we need a stroller. That one may be a challenge... especially for a small one. Back to the open air market to see what treasures we can find. Emma we found you the most wonderful little skirt. Its very fancy schmancy!!!!!!



We love getting your comments... someone else actually communicating in english is a wonderful thing. Hope you are all doing great. We really really want to come home... but it will be worth the wait. Time to go find food... maybe pizza today!!

Love you Emma, miss you soooooo much. kisses and hugs from mommy, daddy, and your little brother Cole!!

SUNNY SUNDAY... COURT TOMORROW

Hello everyone from the Ukraine!!!

We just left Cole after our morning visit. Emma, Mommy has a big job for you.. could you please pick out a pull toy for Cole?? You are a very good shopper and I am sure he would love whatever you choose!!!

We spoke to another couple from the US that are here in another region. The have also met their son. We must be in a good regions. sadly for them they can only visit their nicholas for 1 hour twice a day .. only once on sat and not at all on sunday. Our hours do not change on the weekend. It was nice to talk to her on the phone and compair notes. She is on day 5 of her count down. Ours will start tomorrow.


We got our toilet set.. its just wonderful. doesnt move!!!! I also splurged and purchased a new rug for the bathroom tub area.. it has tread. The old one was all worn off. It is lovely. The have a large open air market here. rows and rows of booths. You can buy old and new stuff, food, tools, car parts, fresh meat- not in a bucket- fruit and veggies. It is very crowded today. We buy large packages of pampers for the orphanage there. Its also where we got the fan, toilet seat and rug. We found some little Ukraine books for Cole's trip home. We got some wooden toys, blocks, puzzles. We wont bring them out until the train or plane trips. We did find a set of wooden blocks with the ukrain alphabet. very cool.

I wanted to share a brief moment on the fashion here.... I guess at one time they had all matching clothing, just varying in color. SOOOO... it would seem they have taken fashion to the edge. All the girls wear very revealing, disco like clothing. very tall spiked heels. beads, sequins, sheer, short, tight... this would be the normal day clothing. To go to the grocery store in ..... very interesting. Everyone has designer jeans, drawings on them, rips, designs... something. We stand out in tennis shoes and long shorts. tee hee.


We will go to the market today. The orphanage needs more pampers.... I dont think they could ever not need pampers. We always ask. they sometimes say they need more. Cole fell down and has a boo boo on his knee. it has bright red medicine on it. No booboo bandage. You can pick some of those out for him too Emma. He seems to like bugs and cars. He now giggles and wallers. he was full of energy this morning. running around and laughing. He is testing us, he throws things until we tell him NYE (no) and take it away. We asked how to say Stop.. but we both forgot what the teacher told us.

We will send more tomorrow, if we can. We go to court at 11:00 and hopefull I can get in here to a free computer later in the day. Keep your fingers crossed that the judge thinks we will be ok parents for Cole. We miss you all.. especially our emma. I am glad you like the movie and had fun with grandma. KISSES AND HUGS EMMA..... XOXOXOXOXOXO MOMMY AND DADDY

Saturday... hot and sunny!

Hello!!

Jammy thank you so much for posting emmas pictures. i think she has grown 2 inches. You look beautiful Emma!!!

Its very hot again. has to be over 80 at 11:00. We just visited Cole. He is very good with his new toy.. a shape sorting box. The couple from Isreal too there son today. The tried to have a party, but they would not let the kids have tort cake or suckers. said the sugar would hurt there teeth. We will make a note of that for our good bye party. Dry sweet crackers and fresh juice. We actually sat in his little eatting room during the party. Its very clean, no clutter. I saw little toddler beds in another room. I will ask if one is Coles when our translator is here on Monday.

We did confirm we have court on Monday at 11;00. Our translator will come in sunday night and get us and the paperwork ready. Then begins the 10 day count down!! Yeah.

We got Cole a few items of travel clothing and new shoes. His little sholders are 9 inches across and his waist is 18 inches around. He is in a 23 shoe, but the new ones we got him are 24 and a tiny bit big. Mom the 23 1/2 sound perfect!!!

Today our big adventure is to buy a new toliet seat. the one in the apt is broken on the back... and we want a new one. Yesterday we had pizza for lunch.. and it was actually really good pizza. Ham and mushroom with lots of cheese.

I will try to email and or call all of you this week. its really hot in this little cafe, 15 computers, 20 kids, no air conditioner. Lisa i got your email... thanks i enjoyed reading it. i will try to call tues. monica and leslie have fun at the play day. ross, beth, sandy, jim... Cole sends his love and kisses.


Emma we love an miss you ... I hope you enjoyed shrek with grandma. i hope you got your crocs too. hugs and kisses from mommy and daddy. XOXOXOXO