A Favorite Day

Today has definitely been one of our favorite days here in Sevastopol.

We had a wonderful visit with Timothy this morning. More ball playing. He has a great throw. He picked up the ball and threw it HARD and it smacked Ed right in the nose. Ed and Peter had just had a head collision a few days ago, Peter's forehead and Ed's nose. Poor guy. He just can't catch a break. There is another family making visits now with a little girl. They speak Russian so we are not able to communicate, but they share our little playground/walking space. Nice to see another family going through the same process.

Timothy was calm when we said goodbye to him today and I was able to get a picture of him with one of his care givers. She said she has taken care of him since he was a baby (communicated with motions). I wish I could talk to her more and get more info on his infant-hood. Any information I can get would be helpful, but we are only able to communicate when Olga is here. We will hopefully get some information on Monday. That is our last chance.




Not far from our apartment are the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Khersones. It was founded around 422 BC and was made famous in these parts as the place where one ruler, Volodymyr the Great, was baptized. This event, as far as I understand it, was the beginning of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Vladimirsky Cathedral and the ruins




We had a blast here. Every part of the site is free to explore. There are no barriers between you and the ruins. People are climbing over them, walking through them. The kids went everywhere. It was such fun to hear them come up with stories for this building or this pit. Most of their stories involved animals and ovens!




















We also spent a bit of time by the shore of the Black Sea. Fantastic! The waves were huge, but we were able to find a spot that was protected a bit by some large rocks. The waves hit the rocks first, the kids second. It was so nice to trade the sound of the traffic for the sounds of the waves and the kids laughing.












A few more days in Sevastopol and then off to Kiev. We found out that Timothy's passport has been approved. We now need to wait on the mail. Thankfully, the passport office is open on Saturdays, so that gives them one more day to get it off in the mail. One of many things to be thankful for today.
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Quiet

Today was a quiet day.

After some very eventful days, we were overjoyed to have a day that did not require any racing and time constraints. We slept in this morning and had a nice visit with Timothy.

When we first arrive at the orphanage for our visit, it is such a joy to see him run to us and greet us with hugs and smiles. Yesterday we were able to be with his group inside their living area. They had finished breakfast and were getting ready to go outside. Once everyone was cleaned up they all sat for a little tv time. The mamas got Peter and Lydia both a cushion to sit on. Timothy was real good at first and then he decided to get up and wander around, find a toy, make a noise. The mamas looked at us and we looked at them. Who was in charge? Good question. Timothy was wondering too, I'm sure.

We can tell that he is gaining more independence from the group with each visit we make. I am sure that makes the mama's job harder. He is caught in this odd limbo between the security and "free"ness of a family and the comfort of familiarity and structure of the orphanage. We will hopefully be able to provide the best of both worlds for him when the time comes...... and it is coming soon!

After our visit, we had a quiet afternoon at the apartment. We went for a walk and that was about it. Not quite sure how we are going to adjust to the "busy"ness of being back home! Our only "job" right now is our daily visit to the orphanage. So stressful! Of course, we cannot wait to return to our home and get back to life as "normal". Busy or not.

We will leave you with a few pictures from the day. Timothy had a trike that Ed used to push him around the grounds of the orphanage. We ended the visit with playing ball. Everyone loves that. We cannot wait to be able to really throw the ball and not worry about where it will land.

Thank you everyone for all of the wonderful and uplifting comments we received regarding Timothy. We are blessed to have him be a part of our family and to have all of you supporting and encouraging us.













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Next Step

Timothy is now our son, but he is still a ward of the orphanage here in Sevastopol and will need to continue staying there until certain paperwork can be finalized. So.......... we have taken the next step.

This morning we made a birthday visit to the director of the orphanage, Angelina. This was supposed to be the day that we finished up business at the orphanage, but a birthday of the director is a big deal and the "business" will need to be done next Monday. The director had important city officials stopping in all day to offer well wishes and she needed to be available to receive them. Olga made sure we brought her a bouquet of roses and a cake. Business is surely done differently here.



Angelina the orphanage's head doctor and director

We had a good visit with Timothy and then lunch with Vitaly and Olga before going back to the orphanage to pick Timothy up for his passport application. He was all dressed up and had a different little hat on. They put a hat on every child, regardless of the weather. They put a scarf on Timothy so that he does not take his hearing device off.

He did great in the car ride. He was "all eyes" taking in the traffic. I thought maybe Vitaly would tone it down a bit, but no. The ride was fast and furious and Timothy seemed to enjoy every bit of it. When Vitaly came to a stop, Timothy would look at V and shake his head "yes". He wanted more!




We have now applied for Timothy's passport. This will take a few days to receive. Olga was informed today that the main man who handles her passports in Kiev is out of the office on his summer vacation. We are praying that things will continue smoothly and that we will receive the passport on Monday August 20th. We have plane tickets for Kiev on Tuesday. If we do not receive the passport, this will delay the entire next step.

We cannot apply for Timothy's visa at the American embassy in Kiev until we receive his Ukrainian passport. So we are leaving the timing in God's hands. We are walking under His yoke. We are trusting Him to make our path straight.

One more picture of our handsome little guy waiting at the passport office. He does not understand the concept of posing for a photo. That will have to change because this mother LOVES to take pictures, especially of her children. So happy tonight that he is our child.




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It's Official!

It has finally happened.

After a very busy day of running here and there, cutting in line, waiting in the sun, trying to avoid the president of Ukraine, we are officially parents to our newest son.

We started the day very early. We were supposed to stay on task and on time. Our timing will affect our being able to apply for a passport. So when we started off late and then got separated from our other car, Ed and I were starting to get a bit nervous.

We had made it half way through our morning and were sitting outside a building waiting to sign the papers that would officially make us "K's" parents when a large helicopter flew overhead. It was, of course, the president of Ukraine coming to town to open a new hospital. This hospital was located in the area of our next stop. We had to be at this building by 12:30pm or we would not be able to apply for "K's" passport for at least two more days. As luck would have it, the police had blocked off all roads in the area. Now Olga was starting to sweat and THAT made US nervous. Nothing flusters this woman.

God used Vitaly, our fantastically crazy Ukrainian driver, with his backroads skills to get us to the office in the knick of time. We were driving in places I'm sure were not meant for driving, but he did it. And because of the heroic efforts of the day, we can now introduce you to our son.............







Timothy Kiril Gillis








2 Timothy 1:2 "To Timothy, my dear son: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."








2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control."








1Timothy 1:17 "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen"




Timothy (honoring God)




Our son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend.... welcome to our family.
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One More Day......Again

Our ten day wait is officially over, but we have not been registered as legal parents of little "K" yet. We so want to share him with all of you but have been asked by Olga to "please, one more day". We must listen to Olga. She is the only one who will speak to us in English here!

We took our normal trip to the orphanage this morning. "K" had a little pull along dump truck to play with today and he was so proud to show us how it worked. He and the kids played so nicely together as though they'd been together forever, swinging and climbing (and snacking).

About 30 minutes into the visit Angelina, the orphanage director and head doctor, came by (she has been on "Holiday" the entire time we've been here, only seen by us at official meetings). We needed to take "K" for his passport photo. His caregiver "mama" for the day took us up to his group's room while "K" thought it was time to leave so he wasn't to happy. Once we came into the room with him though and his caregiver brought out some different clothes he realized this was something "different". He had a big smile beaming as she put some "big kid" clothes on him, took off his head scarf and combed his hair. He looked so grown up, a handsome guy for sure! Then they bustled us down with a lady we never met before and into a beautiful 1950's car (think smaller version of a 57 Chevy) with an older gentleman whom we've seen around but don't know either. They drove all of us to the photo place. "K" was looking around curiously but very relaxed considering he was basically in a car with a bunch of relative strangers. Hopefully this means when he leaves with us permanently it won't be such a big deal to him.

For the photo "K" was a little restless, understandably so, and for some reason he seemed to not trust the blue curtain we all tried to get him to stand in front of for the picture. He acted as though he expected something to jump out from behind it. After several attempts, we eventually got some adequate photos. Lydia and Peter have been in front of a camera from birth. This little guy has been introduced to the camera just recently. He does not pose naturally!

We rushed back to the orphanage for a few more minutes with him. One lady whom we have never met before continually tried telling us something. We had absolutely no idea what she was saying. She tried and tried and then another lady came running and made flapping motions with her arms and took "K" by the hand. Our visit was apparently over! "K" sadly said goodbye to us and our hectic morning was over.

We are planning on a couple of busy days Tuesday and Wed. Olga will be arriving tonight and then we will get going early morning and head off to do paper/government work.

We know that God has travelled with us through our days here. We are so thankful for his protection and guidance. With Him carrying the weight of our burdens we can continue at peace and with joy in our hearts.

Since we cannot share pictures of "K" with you today, we thought it would be fun for you to see the place that he and all of his little buddies spend their time. We feel very fortunate to have the pictures and thankful the mamas allowed us to take them. The mamas really do take their job of caring for these little ones seriously. We are so very grateful for their care.



Main entrance to orphanage


Door to "K's" living area



TV and play area


Eating and play area



Bathroom towels all in a line with comb above them - "K's" is elephant #8

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One More Day

We are almost done with our ten day waiting period.

Tomorrow, at the end of the business day, "K" will be pronounced legally our son. We will then be able to do introductions. We cannot wait.

Another Sunday with no visit to the orphanage. We wonder if "K" notices. Peter asked at super tonight, "I wonder what "K" did today?" We all pretty much agreed that it involved fighting over toys and pointing to the kids that were not following the rules. Pretty sure he will be as much of a tattle-tale as an adorable little deaf boy can be!

We bought him a pair of shoes today, one long sleeve shirt and a pair of pants. I had brought a few things for him from home, but was unsure of his size. We traced his foot the other day and brought it to the store with us today. The sales lady kept asking us questions as we were shoving our piece of paper inside different shoes. I sure hope they fit, because I do not even want to attempt a return!

We have been bringing the clothes to the orphanage that he will wear for his passport picture. We play a little game. Hold up the shirt to "K" and shake our head yes. Hold up the shirt to the other family members and shake our head no. He absolutely loves this game. Not sure why, but hopefully he will like wearing the clothes just as much.

We took another walk today along the high embankment above the water that our apartment sits on. We were trying to find a shady spot to play bouncy ball. We all needed to wear off some energy. As we were walking, it struck me again how much of a military feel Sevastopol has. Military men everywhere - especially on the weekends. Ship leave? Monuments to past wars. Cannons, tanks, swords and coats of arms.

This area has seen it's share of fighting. From pirates, to Khans, to Turks, to Russians, to Germans, this area has been invaded many times. As I mentioned before, the town had to be totally rebuilt after the Crimean War. During WWII the German occupation left a destroyed town that had to be rebuilt once again. With all of this rebuilding, it leaves a wonderful opportunity for many monuments.

I often see Peter busily studying these figures as we walk by. I wonder what he thinks. I wonder how it affects little boys living here and walking past them every day. Does it promote nationalism? Does it promote a need for peace? I will take the old Kasson water tower any day. Or the Kasson grain elevator piercing the sky. Or the many wind turbines that now dot our landscapes. How blessed we are to live with such monuments of goodness and bounty.




























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Look at it!

We had such a good visit with "K" today.

He was all smiles and giggles and playfulness. He now knows what it is like to be held and tickled. He loves it! One of the first things he likes to do when we sit down on our bench is take his little shoes off to have his feet tickled. LOVES IT!

He is soaking in his time with our family. We are so thankful that our times together seem to be drawing us closer to each other. He was very protective of us today, trying to keep other kids away from us. This is the first time he has done that. I would say that is a good sign. Thank you for all of your prayers. This entire experience has been directed and written by the One who knows all and is all. We praise God for His love and mercy.

Now for some fun. We just love these old Soviet cars. They are everywhere. Sometimes they are piled full of people. Other times they have bushels of produce strapped to the roof of the car. Other times a young kid is driving one with leopard print seats. All old. All unique. Every time we see one we gotta say "just look at it".....

If none of this makes sense to you, you may want to look up "Look at this car" on youtube. Makes us laugh.



Look at that, all nice and shiny.


When I see a car like this I say, "would you look at this"?


Just look at it.


Look at this, you know what I mean?


There it is, would you look at it?


Where's that cop? I'd like to look at him.

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