Vlad's dream has finally come true!!!!
Hi Friends & Family,
We finally had word today that we are GOING to Ukraine to bring Vlad home for good!!!!
We will arrive in Kyiv on Friday, July 14th to begin our adoption process. I am still shaking!!!!
We will keep you all posted on all our news!!
Rob, Sallyanne, Christopher, Jessica , Vlad
posted by VladsAmericanDream @ 5:31 PM
93 Comments:
Good Morning
This is actually just a test to see if I could post. I am getting very excited!!!!
Hi, Just testing how this works. Looking forward to following your trip
Rob and Sallyanne,
I'm sitting here with great excitement that you are on your way to see Vlad! My prayers are with you. I pray for safety and I pray that there will be no road blocks with this adoption. With God, ALL things are possible and I will pray that He WILL make this possible. Lean and trust in Him for everything.
AND.....Give Vlad a great big hug from PAM!
Praying for you,
Pam
Rob & Sallyanne arrived safely this morning in Kiev, and were on the way to Odessa to see Vlad !
HI,
Just curious - what is the time difference?? It is 6pm friday here, so I assume it is late Friday night or ealry Saturday there, but not sure?????
Ukraine time is 7 hours ahead of Eastern time.
Hi Everyone
Well our flight was great!!! Just a few bumps here and there but nothing major. Of course we didnt sleep a wink. We arrived in Kyiv about 3:30a.m. U.S.A time and it was 10:30 a.m. here. Then we went to the Embassy (very runned down building) not what I expected and we signed our I600. Dima then took us to McDonalds for lunch. We had a driver meet us at McDonalds to then take us to Odessa, which was suppose to be about a 6hour drive and turned into a 4 hour drive. Yes, I felt like I was in a NY taxi. It was ABSOLUTELY crazy. Rob was holding on for his life and I hid in the tiny back seat and slept, I think. It was a beautiful ride other than that. All countryside with lots of farmland and people on the sides of the road selling warm or cold drinks. They dont offer alot of COLD drinks here. Dont ask??
We then arrived at our FLAT, that is what Larisa calls it. OH MY GOD!! Yes, NY Bronx without the trash... The apartment is cozy though. There is NO air conditioning in just about every building we have been too. That is okay for me but Rob is walking around with sweat pouring down his face. He says he is the only FAT SWEATY American here or Ukrainian person. LOL. Larisa took us to Vlad's camp last night and surprised him and he is so excited to see us. We met all his friends and the director and received the grand tour of the camp. Very clean but very very runned down. Very sad!!! His friends followed us around every where we went. We then went to dinner with Larisa, her son Dima, Vlad and Vlad's friend, Slavik. We had a very good dinner. Then we crashed at our Flat. We got up this a.m., Sat., about 11:00 Ukraine time and Vlad first took us to his Orphanage, VERY SAD, my stomach just turned seeing the conditions these children live in. The orhanage is where he is during the school year and the camp is where they all go during the summer. I took lots of pictures. We met his teachers, very nice ladies. He then has taken us on a tour of the city which is very nice!! We are now in the internat cafe because our computer isnt working. I'll keep you posted as we go along. We are having a good time!!!
Rob & Sallyanne, and VLAD! Your trip sounds so good so far. I'm so glad you are together. I don't know if you ever heard from Lela because she became ill. I heard from her yesterday. But, she is offering her house with 3 bathrooms and A/C and hot water, and free! Her e-mail address is: lelasteel@normaplus.com
I'm sure I can get her phone number from her as well. She's a wonderful woman and would take very good care of you.
My prayers are with you!
Pam (San Antonio, Texas)
Vlad, I'm so happy for you! I'm praying for you. Please tell all my boys there hello and tell them I love and miss them! Love ya!
Hey Rob and Sallyanne,
So very happy for you all. You are all in our thoughts and prayers. Cant wait to me Vlad. Congratulations on your new member of the Young Family. God Bless you all.
Kim, Tom and Erin Callahan
Hi Everyone
It is Monday here about 2:30p.m. we are exhausted!!! Vlad is wearing us down!! Enjoying every minute of it! We have seen so much of Vlad's life here. We had a grand tour of his camp the first night and his orphanage on Sat. very poor conditions. VERY SAD!! The children here are all sweet and just want to say hello to you and follow you everywhere. It is very hard to look at them and see the desperation in their faces for just a hug. We went to Vlad's sister apartment and that had to be the most upsetting part of our trip so far!!! She lives in a little alley way in a hut type home. It really isnt an apartment, it is just a corner of a building with one little room, the size of Christopher's room with her and her two babies and husband. No toilet!! Very very upsetting. This is what happens to these children, as she once was an orphan also in #4 as Vlad. She aged out and now lives like this. On the bright side Vlad is having and so are we a great time with us.
We met one of his teachers today and spent time at her apartment. She was very sweet!!! She made us tea, coffee, and bisquits. She just loves Vlad and is very sad about him leaving. We told her we will keep in contact with her. Our apartment is quite the thing. The bed is like sleeping on the cement floor and we cannot walk when we get up because of our backs!! It is on the 8th floor and there is no way I will take the elevator, so Vlad and I walk it everyday. I'm exhausted!!!
Well there is so much to tell everyone and lots and lots of pictures, I cant wait to come home!! I am enjoying the time with Vlad, but have to be honest, cant wait to come home with Vlad. Will talk soon.!!!
Love Rob & Sallyanne & Vlad
In case you can't check your e-mail, here are some phone numbers for a sweet lady named Lela. If you need ANYthing, she will help you. She loves Vlad to death and has a big home with everything you need. Here are her numbers:
Lela's home # is 758-7619
cell phone # is 80503922757.
I hope you get some rest and that all goes well.
Pam
Hi guys! We are so glad that everything is going so well. We miss you and can't wait for you to come home. Let us know what your travel dates are. Hugs and kisses
Love,
Dad & Nancy
Hello everyone
Everything going fine just no date yet from adoption center. We are now told we will find out on Wednesday when we will receive our date. It is beginning to not look good. We are beyond frustrated here with it. We hope Oleg has something good tomorrow to tell us. We have been doing alot of walking and alot of eating... We went to a movie today which was all in Russian, pretty funny. We have spent alot of time with Vlad, which has been great and met alot of his friends. Tomorrow is his birthday, so we are not sure what plans we will have yet. We are staying with a wonderful lady, Leyla, she is very sweet and her home is beautiful. We have actually gotten up in the morning without a backache and dont have to climb 150 stairs to our apartment and feel like we are in the bronx of NY. The apartment we orginally were in was in very poor condition and the area felt unsafe. So Leyla is a sweetheart and has opened her home to us. She is 81yrs. old and works with the children here teaching them about Jesus. Anyway, I have so much to tell everyone. Here is something funny. The cab drivers here are actually WORSE than NY drivers, if you can believe that. There are no lines on the road and they pretty much do what they want. They drive at pretty much any speed and anywhere on the road they please!!! Almost lost my cookies with the driver we had last night after dinner. But they do smell as bad as a NY driver. We went to visit one of Vlad's teachers that he used to have at the Orphanage and she was a very nice person and is going to miss him, I think maybe I already mentioned that story, sorry!!! So many things going on and dont know what I have already said and have not said. We had a great dinner at McDonalds!!! LOL There really isnt anything exciting to do here to be honest, except eat. I enjoy going to Vlad's camp and spending time with his friends. He has SO many friends and they are all sweet. I wish I could take them all. One in particular is Slavik, who is now 16 and has no hope for a family to adopt him. VERY SAD!! Such a nice boy!! We took him and Vlad to the market and bought them clothes. We bought both boys, shoes, pants, shirts, all for $100.00 Great bargains and they loved it!! I'm hoping we can help in some how once we leave.
Well I will write again tomorrow.
Would love to hear from everyone if you can write!!! Just write on this blocked area and then you have to sign up for a username and password that you can use everytime you write something.
Love,
Rob, Sallyanne, Vlad
P.S. Hello to our Tuesday night
dinner crew!!! We were going to call tonight, but that meant we would have to stay up to 2a.m. Good night!!!
Hello,
By my calculation it is now July 19th - Happy 16th Birthday Vlad!!!
Can't wait for you to be home !
Love,
Robin, Jordan and Josh
Hey Vlad,
I wanted to wish you a Happy 16th Birthday!!!!!!! I can't wait for you to be home so we can hang out and go for some more fun shopping at the Post mall. Miss ya
love
Jordan :)
Happy Birthday Vlad!
I know you are so excited to be with your mom and dad on your birthday!
I know you are happy to be with Lela too!
Love and miss you!
Pam
(e-mail if you get a chance, ok?)
Happy Birthday Vlad! Hello to Rob & Sallyanne! We missed you at dinner last night! Can't wait to hear good news!! Keep us posted!!!
The Tuesday Night Dinner Crew
Hi Everyone
Some of you already know it has not been a good day for us here!!!
The adoption center has decided to play with our patience some more and not give us an appointment date. We are now making arrangements to come home by this weekend. Dima/Oleg cannot tell us when NAC will decide to give us an appointment, so unfortunately we have no choice but to come home and wait for them to decide when we can travel back. We are trying not to be to disappointed being that we did have a very special time here with Vlad for a week and especially we were able to spend time with him on his birthday. We have learned so much about the Ukraine lifestyle and Vlad's life here. We have met some wonderful friends of his and special people, like the woman who made us lunch, and wonderful Leyla, who has opened her home to us not even knowing us!!! I can't even tell you guys in words how special this lady really is!!! We also met with the director of his orphanage today and Larisa and Vinny who runs Frontier Horizon to see if we can bring him home with us some how on a visitor or student visa. She explained to us that there was no possible way he could travel with us because he is an orphan and would have to travel with a guardian or if we wanted to do a student visa that would be fine, but it would give his rights up to be adopted. So, we will return home and again wait, and this time not get TOO excited until I actually have a written date in my hands!! It is soooo frustrating. We also had a rough day because of course it is Vlad's birthday and he wanted to get a cell phone, but we tried to explain to him that we were willing to get him a cell phone, but a very inexpensive one, being that once he gets here it would not work in the U.S.A. He being a typical teenager wouldnt take no for an answer. We were dragged for at least 3 hours 5 miles of walking to every cell phone store possible in Odessa searching for a cell phone that was cool enough for him and within reason in price. We of course never found one!! He decided he would wait until America and we gave him cash for his birthday to spend. We then headed home to(Leyla's) for cake and ice cream that she had waiting for us. It was a very hard day for him. Well it is now 12:05a.m. here and both Rob and Vlad are upstairs watching a movie and Leyla just went to bed (she is 81yrs. old) cannot believe she has the energy to stay up so late!! Dont know if I will be able to write anything before we leave, but will try. We should be home over the weekend. I NEED A DUNKIN DONUTS TEA WITH SPLENDA AND SKIM MILK WAITING FOR ME!!! lol
Happy Birthday Vlad,
We love you and miss you very much. Hugs and kisses
Rob and Sal, your in our thoughts and prayers everyday and we all know everything will work out in the end.
Love Marsha and Jason
Happy Birthday Vlad. We love you and we send you virtual hugs and kisses until you are here with us in person. We will continue to pray for you all as you go through this turmoil of a roller coaster ride.
Love you,
Poppy & Nancy
Hi all
It is Thursday evening and Vlad has gone back to the camp. He had to be back by 10p.m. today. He seemed to be handling this very well. Lots of hugs and kisses.. We had an email from Oleg our facilatator who is still trying to get an appointment, so maybe a miracle will happen and tomorrow we will find out good news. We will be heading to Kiev at 7a.m. tomorrow and spend the day there. We are flying home on Saturday unless we here some good news. Please say a pray!!!
Rob & Sallyanne & Vlad
We are definitely praying for you, and asking God to soften the heart of this man to see what a good thing he would be doing for Vlad and for all of you to let him come home once and for all. I have no doubt that no matter what happens, God knows what is right and there will be a happy ending at the right time. Good luck, we love you.
Dad & Nancy
Hi All,
We are now in Kiev and it is Friday about 6p.m. We arrived here about 12p.m. and checked into a very nice hotel. We were then picked up by one of Dima's friends for a grand tour of Kiev. It was a great tour!! We have wonderful pictures to show everyone. His name was Vitaly, I think that is how it is spelled. We are now in the hotel in the business center and we had no good news from Oleg, we have made are reservations with Delta airlines to leave tomorrow, Sat, at 12:30 from Kiev. We will arrive in NY about 4p.m. on Sat. We will see you all soon.
Love,
Rob, Sallyanne
OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT DATE LETTER ARRIVED TODAY - AUGUST 7TH, 2006
WE ARE INVITED TO KIEV FOR AN APPOINTMENT ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2006
JESSICA'S 18TH BIRTHDAY!!!
WILL KEEP EVERYONE POSTED
Hi Everyone
Were off to our second trip to Ukraine!! We leave on Delta #88 9/3/06 at 5:40p.m. and arrive in Kiev 3:30a.m. our time and 10:30a.m. Ukraine time. We will be in Kiev until at least Thursday the 7th. Our first appointment will be in Kiev on the 7th with the adoption center. We will keep everyone posted!!! We will miss you!! Love, Rob & Sallyanne
Hi Youngs
Have a safe and memorable trip getting Vlad. Brad & Susan Thorpe
Hello,
Just wanted to say hi and that we can't wait for you to bring Vlad home!!
Hi
We made it here safely and what a trip - 1st class is the way!!! We felt like a king and queen and I actually slept!!! We are here in kiev exploring and have a nice apartment close to the center. A little exhausted mentally and physically but will get thru it all. We are out exploring today and will let you know of our fun filled day events. Our appointment is Thursday at the adoption center and have been informed it is at 2;30. YES!!! looking good so far. Will talk to you all soon. Rob & Sallyanne
Hi All
It is our second day here in Kiev and we are exploring big time!! We have walked and walked, and I think I am 2" shorter today, and maybe even 10pds lighter, ha ha. Anyway, it is beautiful in Kiev and we have been exploring without a taxi or interpretator. We are having a good time!! Rob is not happy with me because I still will not go on the elevator at the apartment building up to the 7th floor, so he walks it with me. If you could only see it!! There just is no way I could do it!!! We have been to the underground shopping area which is magnificent and all the beautiful churhes here. We are at the internat cafe in the mall right now surrounded by tons of teenagers playing video games on the computers. Dima telephoned us this a.m. and will be picking us up tomorrow at 1:55p.m. for our appointment. We have no idea what to expect. The weather here has been a little crazy, one minute it is pouring buckets of rain, then the sun comes out and it is hot and reminds us of Florida weather. Thank you Kyle for your Rescue 1 videos, I believe that is what they are called, because we have been watching them at night to keep us busy. We hope all is well with everyone and will post as soon as we can after our appointment tomorrow at the adoption center. Vlad has also called us several times with alot of excitement in his voice. He just cant wait!!!
Love
Rob & Sallyanne
Hi mom + dad !!
miss you :) love , jess
Hi Sallyanne & Rob!
I can't wait for tomorrow to see how things go at the NAC ! We will keep checking the blog to see the outcome! Keep walking up the stairs Rob! No pain, no gain! hahahaha
Hi Rob & Sallyann,
Things are looking real good right now and we are very excited. It will be great when the final word comes in. We'll watch the blog. Love to you both (Rob, I heard if you walk up the stairs backward it is just like walking down. I never tried it but if you do, let me know).
Dad & Nancy
Hey Guys-great to hear that things are going well and that you arrived safely!! Good Luck tomorrow and Jess if you read this from collage -happy 18th girl!
Hi, guys!
We've been thinking about you and praying for you that EVERYTHING works out today! The dogs and cat can't wait for Vlad to come home! Garrett needs company on the school bus to EHHS, too!...give Vlad a big hug from me!
Love to you all!
Peg
HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY JESSICA!!!!
LOVE MOM & DAD
HI EVERYONE
We had our appointment today and we have just a small delay hopefully. Our homestudy when it was notarized has a typograpic error in it with the date that the Catholic Family serivices did. so we were immedately sent to the US Embassy to try to get help with the paperwork and back to the adoption center and now we have to wait until tomorrow a.m. to see what happens. Yes FRUSTRATING!! but it should be okay. No one picked up on this error that reviewed our paperwork including us otherwise we would of had a referral today, I believe. but it will be okay. Just another day in Kiev, it could be worse!!!! I think. We will let everyone know asap what happens tomorrow. Talk to you soon.
Rob & Sallyanne
Hi - sorry about the delay, really doesn't surprise me after all the other things that have gone wrong! But I guess things happen for a reason and it will all work out. Everything good here at the "home".
Love you both.
Mom
Hi guys!
Hopefully everything will go well tommorrow - I can't believe everything you have been thru, but it will all be worth it in the end. Good things come to those who wait!
Not to mention you may have enough material for a book when you get home =)
Hi All
Everything is great today!!! We went to adoption center this a.m. and had a meeting with the deputy of the adoption center and she told us what we had to do with our paperwork in order for it to be accepted. So we headed out with Dima and took care of the necessary paperwork and was not able to pick it back up until 4p.m. today, and then to be brought back to the adoption center. We did get that all done and they are giving us our referral to head to Odessa tomorrow. We will be getting a driver tomorrow at noon to head to Odessa and continue our process. We are told we cannot see Vlad until we have our permission to go to his orphanage because of the preselection laws of orphans here. Here is sooooo excited!!! We are exhausted!!!!! and excited!!!!
I have never ever walked so much in my life and I am definetly out of shape and probably will be able
to run a marathon when we get home. I'm not kidding either!!!
Dima has been great help. We finally got to meet the mystery Oleg also. Great people!!! The weather here today is beautiful and should be all weekend. We will keep you posted on our next steps towards our adoption
Rob & Sallyanne
YAY, so glad to hear you got the OK & will be on your way to Odessa & Vlad - we wish you a safe & happy journey!
Give Vlad a big hug from Jesse & Maggie, & Dima, too! If you want to make Dima extra happy, buy him some popcorn! :)
Maggie
I am SO excited for all of you! I am praying NONSTOP for you guys. Please give Vlad a huge hug from me and tell him I love him. I can't even imagine how excited he is! I'm so for you all.
Pam
Hello everyone from Odessa- it is Sunday and we are anxiously awaiting Monday- when we "officially" get to visit Orphanage#4 and see Vlad!! We really enjoyed Kiev, and hope that everything here in Odessa runs as smoothly as Ukrainianly possible!LOL. The food here has been superb-ate at Mc Donalds twice........................!!!
Our apartment is sparse and not the cleanest, but will serve its purpose until tomorrow when we move closer to the orphanage. We even went out today and bought the orphanage a new printer....seems theirs is broken, and without them able to print our documents, we don't move very fast! So we solved that problem before it became one.... More news when we have it!!!Rob and Sallyanne
BTW- this is Rob- my first blog entry- my next one will reivew the quality beers of Ukraine!!!!!!!
HI ALL
We got up early this a.m. and went with Dima to get our permission to go to Orphanage and then we headed over to the Oprhanage and guess who was waiting for us!! Yes, Vlad, we then met the Assistant Director of the orphanage and Rob, Dima and Dina tried to hook up the printer we purchased for them and their computer would not work, so of course we are now thinking great we are going to have to purchase a computer for them, but Rob was able to get it up and running!!! YEH!! We then hug out at the orphanage while Dima went around town to gather more documents and we visited with Vlad and his friends and had fun. We then all headed over to some place to take care of the paperwork for his passport. His passport will read "Vladimir Daniel Young" Yes Daniel!!! That is what chose!! I like it. My mom used to love the name Daniel!!! We then headed to yes again, MCDONALDS!! for the 5th time here. We then went and got our belongings from that disgusting room and we are now in a better apartment. Vlad brought us to a internat cafe and here we are. He will be staying with us at the apartment, because he has no school this week. Miss everyone and cant wait to come home!!!
Rob, Sallyanne, Vlad
Odessa- Monday 7pm Ukraine time- we spent the day with Vlad- had to meet with the director of the orphanage- then off to another end of town(Odessa is extremely large- over 1 million pop.) to get documents notarized. From there another 80 minute ride thru city traffic back to the apartment from hell and move to the new one- much much nicer!!! As for my previous review advising of my beer review- well here goes- Over here, the alphabet is different . REAL different. C is S and P is R- and then there are letters that look like 3's- anyhow all of the local beers are spelled with any combination of crazy letters- CYREMUKIVC- or soething like that is pronounced SLA-VO-TICH- just like its spelled!!!! But who can complain when a 16 oz bottle of just about anything- including Becks and Stella Artois is about 80 cents US. Its strange but true, and obviously the locals enjoy it, since everyone from 14 to 80 is walking down the street with a warm one.....they don't keep their beer very cold here. Once in a while you can get lucky and find a cooler that been turned down!
And the latest from McDonalds- they have a sauce for nuggets here that is awesome- its a sweet curry sauce- wish they had it at home!!!
See ya-
ROB
Hi,
So happy to hear that things are going well!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you have any idea as to when you will be going on to the next step of the process. Vlad must be sooooo happy. We can't wait for you all to be home
Robin
Hi guys-great news-I am happy that it is all starting to come together for all of you. I am also glad to hear that you are supporing where I work-McDonalds LOL-Rob I'll get right on that sweet curry sauce for you-i'll have to pull some strings. Talk to you guys soon!
How about Vlad posting on the blog? We would love to hear from him!!
Hello All
Well lets see where do I begin today. Yesterday, Tuesday, we went to the Odessa Zoo with Vlad and Alena, very cute friend, and it was fun!! We then went over to a small amusement park area and they went on a few rides together. Lunch/dinner was next and then we headed back to the apartment where they both sang Karoke for about an hour until they decided they needed for friends to sing, so they went to Orphanage and brought back about 5more friends and we were serenaded with Russian Karoke. LOL It was funny!!! We had a small checker tournament and yes believe it or not, I won. I beat
Slavik and Alena's sister. They love checkers!! We had some watermelen and then the kids headed
out about 9:15 to go back to orphanage. We then got up this a.m. and headed to Orphanage and Dima was there working on our paperwork. We asked alot of questions, and found out that the earliest our court date will be is next Friday, YUCK!!! I believe that is the 22nd. He is hoping that we do have that date for our court appearance. Lets hope!!!
We then went to their center city and had lunch at a Chinese Rest. and are now in the internat cafe.
Well thats all for now!!! Hope all is well at home. Cant wait to get there!!! Nothing like America!!
Rob & Sallyanne
Hi everyone form Vlad.
I can't wait when I be in America with my family.I miss everyone.And can't wait see you.And I wait for mom to make chiken parmagane.
Love Vlad.
Good Morning:
Can't believe you have to wait until the 22nd - can't you find someone who knows someone, who knows someone,.......to expedite this? I know you are frustrated, as we all are. Just want to get Vlad home asap (and both of you!) Love, Mom
The twins we hope to adopt are at #4. Give a hug to Alina and Inna (age 15)if you see them.
So fun to read your blog...Maggie told me about it.
Katrina Richardson
Hi Vlad!
I love your blog. Thank you for your e-mail today. My family and I are praying that everything will work out quickly for you. I know you can not wait to go to America!
Love and miss you,
Pam
hey vlad,
i can't wait for you to come home!!!!! i miss you sooo much
love
Jordan
Hi Vlad,
We are so excited and we have a lot of big hugs and kisses for you. Be safe and we will see you real soon.
With all our love,
Poppy & Nancy
Hi All
Nothing really new to report. Just been signing away. Dima hopes our appointment will be next Friday. Lets hope!!! Otherwise we wait until the following Tues. YUCK!! Well nothing goes fast here except the people walking on the street. If you do not move with the flow you had better move over fast!!! It is kind of funny. We took a group of Vlad's friends out for pizza last night, 9 friends, we had 7 pizzas and 18 bottles of pop, it cost us $40.00!!!! Really funny!!!! At home it would be over $100.00. The kids had a great time!!! They were so happy to come out with us. One of them drew me a beautiful picture of a Rose, her name is Julia. These kids are just special. Anyway
we will keep you posted if anything new comes up just trying to keep busy!!!
Rob, Sallyanne, Vlad
Hi Katrina
We actually saw your girls a couple of times. They were staying with Babushka Leyla and another friend of hers from the orphanage and a woman from Chicago. They are beautiful girls and will get a hug from me
Hi Guys,
We hope you are having fun. We love you and we miss you. Dad is having fun with Wriggly and Daisy.!!! He's been enjoying cleaning up after them. He has just one message ---- Sallyann come home soon!!!! LOL Keep us posted as to your progress.
With love,
Dad & Nancy
Hello,
Just wanted to take a second to say we all miss you and are looking forward to the adoption process being completed and all of you returning home. Hope all is continuing to go smoothly!!!!!!!
Love
Robin, Jordan and Josh
Hi All
Thank you to those who are writing to us. It cheers us up for day, not that were sad, but it is so nice to hear from someone at home!!! We are still in our waiting time, as far as we know, Friday @10a.m. is our court date. Please pray it doesnt change!!! We are doing all that we can to keep busy and make the time go by. Vlad is staying with us at Leyla's but he is bored I think. It is hard because there is only so much you can do here. We watch alot of movies together and play Yahtzee, yes he beat us his very first game of Yahtzee!!!
Thank goodness Leyla has some games!!! She is the greatest!!
Well really nothing else to report, so as soon as find out I will let you all know!!
Rob,Sallyanne,Vlad
Hi Chris & Jess,
Mom & Dad cant wait to see you!!!
Just a follow up to Sallyanne's post- we have walked about 30 miles in the 2 weeks + that we have been here. We have ridden in numerous private cars as well as taxis and a couple of electric trains. It has come to my conclusion thatthere are certain unalienable rights of the Ukranian people- and they are its ok to smell real bad, smoke excessivly( even the infants), and walk straight thru you- even if you were there first. I haven't quite finished interpreting the Ukrainianlegal handbook, but I'm certain that these are top 3 on the list!!!
We ate lunch at a traditional Ukrainian restaurant on Monday- I was impressed that with our beverage order(a bottle of water, hot tea and a coke) that we also received 3 shots of VODKA... on the house. Guess we should eat there more often. And NO-I did NOT drink all three-since of course Sallyanne and Vlad won't touch the stuff. But not to embarrass our gracious host, I MANAGED to consume two of them. Funny, I can't remember if they served us any food. LOL!!!!!!!
ROB
It sounds like ya'll are doing great (sorry about the "ya'll" but I live in Texas). I hope the weather is cooler than the last time you were there.
I just want to let you know I'm praying for you. I know you are happy to be together but I'm sure you're ready to ALL go home together!
Give Vlad and Lela my love!! I miss them.
Pam
Just sending all of you a great big hug.....just 3 more days!!!
Mom
Hi Sallyanne, Rob and Vlad,
Thanks for including us in this journey. It's like a Lifetime Movie! We are all holding our breathe for you in anticipation. Be safe. Is "Staven" legal in Yahtzee?
Love, Dana, Tom, et al
Hi All
Well not so good news today, Our appointment not only is not on Friday or Tuesday as we were told, but now it is next THURSDAY!!! Nobody here is happy at all. FRUSTRATED!!!!! We will keep you posted.
Rob, Sallyanne, & Vlad
Hi everyone
We had a good day here today. We spent most of our afternoon at orphanage hanging out with Vlad's friends making friendship bracelets and watching Slavik play football (soccer in America), we then took Slavik, Janna, Vlad, and Rob & Myself to dinner for pizza. I got to see my little friend Leysa and gave her a big hug. Wish I could take her home too. Tomorrow we may go to circus, we will see. Dad I heard about Wrigley giving you trouble, SORRY, Rob will be home next Friday and you will be done with your grandfather duties!!! Thank you for taking care of your grandchildren,(the dogs, cats, turtles). Garrett thank you too for taking care of our little zoo there, you are a BIG help. I have emailed you Robin, Peg but no response, I am thinking maybe it didnt go thru. Check your spam mail because sometimes it goes directly there for whatever reason. Well goodnight everyone..
Love,
Rob, Sallyanne,Vlad
and Babuskha Leyla too
Hi Sallyanne & Rob,
Have you seen Kareena? I know she is in a different orphanage but I thought you had pictures or something to give her? Say hello for us if you see her!!
Also, let me know flight arrangements for Rob - we should be able to pick him up on Friday!
Hello from Babushka Lela's Hotel. It's Monday, almost Midnight- we are down to counting the minutes- not just the hours before our appointment on Thursday. We have been away from home for 22 days.......and miss our kids, family(extended too!)and our other kids- the dogs and cats. I don't know if you can actually miss a turtle....... We are fairly certain that we have seen Odessa- and I mean seen Odessa. Had a great meal at a place called "Steakhouse" on Saturday evening. Real good steaks- something we hadn't found here.
I may have actually found a job here- we went to see the Moscow circus on friday night- a one- ring indoor theater-like a movie theater that seats about 500. During the show, the clowns were putting on an act while the roadies tore down the high wire stuff- and they picked ME to be part of the show-guess they were looking for someone tall and well built..........but being bald probably sealed the deal!! They put a long-haired black wig on me, then i had to run acorss the ring with my chest stuck out, grab a withces broom and run across to the other side screaming to where a guy in a mask took a sword and pretended to stab me! Of course i had to fall backwards onto the floor, while a pretty young maid ran to comfort me........It was pretty funny- Sallyanne recorded it with her camera and when we get home I'll transfer it onto a disc! I know she was hysterical, while Vlad is clearly heard in the video saying "Oh my God"!!!!!- I'm sure he was as embarrassed as any teenager watching their father acting like a clown!!!! Everyone laughed, and i got a nice round of applause!!! Maybe i can travel with them...............had i known this process was going to take so long, I 'd already be working!!!!!!
3 more days- then hopefully I'll be on my way home to prepare for the grand arrival of Sallyanne and Vlad- some time in early October........
to be continued
ROB, Sallanne, & Vlad
Monday- midnight or is it now Tuesday?? I just wrote a long dialoge about our weekend here, and the blog ate it and it is now gone.......this is just a test!!!
ROB
Ok-maybe when I fell at the Circus I hit my head and now I'm nuts- no I was like this before we got here...................
Dear Sallyanne & Rob:
Hope everything is a go for Thursday. We are keeping you in our prayers. IM me anytime at 5ish in the morning. Keep your spirits up.
Congrats
Hi All,
Counting the days until you all come home. Sal, got a bunch of clothes for Vlad, really nice from the docs at work. I know it's difficult now but it will be soooooo
worth it. Were all praying for you, and Pretty, I'll feed you when you get home.
Love to you all,
Jason and Marsha
Hello all- while you're sleeping, were getting ready to go see the kids at the orphanage- its noontime wednesday, and I've ALREADY had 2 cups of coffee AND gotten my hair cut- yeah, yeah, I know- you can't get cut what you don't have.............but I did anyhow- and a bargain 2 bucks!!! Sallyanne got hers done yesterday with a bit of anxiety............but it came out fine! 5 dollars........unreal!!
We went down to the beach and ate at a sidewalk cafe-steakhouse. The menu was all in Russian, so we kind of "winged it", with Vlad doing the interpretation best as he can- some of the menu items are very tough for him to translate- so Sallyanne played safe and got chicken on a skewer- I let Vlad order me a steak- he said with "ketchup".... well, ALL sauces over here are considered ketchup, so when my steak came out, it was like a 9 oz pot-roast filet with a tangy bbq type gravy- it was GREAT!! Vlad had a pork cutlet topped with cheese, onions and god knows what else- a couple of orders of fries, several beverages, and 20 bucks later we were stuffed! I am the current Rummy 500 champion of Ukraine(watch out Jessica and Kelly!), as we have been playing every night. As well as Yahtzee- Vlad won the first game he ever played!!! And he LOVES Instant messanger- his ID is Vladtcerna- please add it to you buddy lists and say hello!! We are VERY EXCITED about finally seeing the judge on Thursday......please cross your fingers and say your prayers for us!!!! We hope to celebrate over lunch tomorrow- the I'm off to Kiev friday at 2:45 AM to stop by the Embassy, sign some papers, then head to Boryspil Airport for a 12;30 flight back to|NYC.
We'll keep you posted!!! I can almost taste the iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts now!!!!
Rob, Sallyanne,& Vlad
Rob,Make sure you have one last steak at those prices, you know when you get back here it will be $20 for just your steak, forget about the rest of the family. Sallyann, you are very brave to have your hair cut in a different country. I'll bet you were nervous, I know I would be. So glad that it came out fine.
We are thrilled that you guys are filling your time by having fun. We are definitely praying that tomorrow goes smoothly. Virtual hugs and kisses to you all and we will stayed tune for more news. Love you!!!!!
Dad & Nancy
Hello all
Well it is official. Our appointment is officially tomorrow at 11a.m. YAhooo!!!! Lets hope all goes well.
Rob, Sallyanne, Vlad
p.s. Dad car wasnt stolen - Gary brought it to Branhaven for service. LOL
Well, It's FINALLY Thursday!! well, kind of- it's 12:40 AM- our appopintment is at 11- we expect smooth sailing!! I can see that Sallyanne is having contractions every two or three hours apart- or it may be a muscle spasm, or the mental illness of all of this waiting is finally taking its toll!!! Actually she looks pretty good, considering!!( her new ukraine hairstyle is the key- fire engine red hair with black highlights- cut short like a dachsund)!!!!!!!!! I tried to bribe Vlad into telling the hair stylist to do just that, but he would never do that to his mommy!!!!! Judge at 11- then a new addition to the family!!! And no stretch marks!!!
Rob, Sallyanne,& Vlad
Hi guys!
Just wanted to let you know you are in our thoughts and prayers. Hope all is smooth sailing tomorrow!!
Love,
us
It's official!! At approx. 11:18 Ukrainian time Thursday morning, Vladimir Daniel Young arrived!! He weighed in at approx 125 lbs and is 67 inches in length. Mother and son are resting comfortably at Babuska Lela's bed and breakfast! the whole process this morning took no more than 20 minutes, and almost two years of waiting is ALMOST over!!!-At leat the hard part is. Sallyanne and Vlad still have 10 days or so to wait for final paperwork so that we can obtain his birth certificate and passport. Rob will be back in the States on Friday afternoon-he has an errand at the US Embassy fist thing Friday then off the the airport- so he is leaving Odessa at 2:45 AM! Thanks to all for supporting us, and keep posting- Sallyanne STILL has a couple of weeks before she sips her next cup of Dunkin Donuts tea!!!
Rob, Sallanne and(for the first time)Vladimir Daniel Young
yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to the family Valdimir Daniel Young!! I have been checking for this news since I got up at 5am. We are so happy that all went smoothly-its about time something in this process did.- Can't wait for you all to be home
love
Robin, Jordan and Josh
Welcome my new grandson, welcome!!!! I can't wait to hug you and personally welcome you to my family.
Love,
Poppy
I'm so glad that the moment we have been waiting for went so smoothly. Now all that is left is to get you all home safely. Congratulations and welcome Vladimir Daniel Young.
Nancy
CONGRATS VLADIMIR DANIEL YOUNG (NICE NAME)
WERE SO VERY HAPPY FOR YOU AND LOOKING
FORWARD TO YOUR HOMECOMING. LOTS OF HUGS AND KISSES FROM YOUR AUNT MARSHA, HANG IN THERE SAL, IT WON'T BE MUCH LONGER, WE LOVE YOU ALL.
CONGRATULATIONS!You did it!
Wow, we are so happy for all of you!
As you know, this adoption journey is not for everyone, you must have BIG heart & BIG courage, both of which you have demonstrated big time over the past 20 months - now you have a wonderful new son!
May the rest of your journey be filled with peace & joy!
Please give Vlad big hug from us!
blessings,
Maggie
Wow!1 Iced Coffee from Dunkin Donuts- and a burger from Wendy's!!
It's GREAT to be home!!! I left Odessa Friday at 2:45 AM Ukraine time- and after a 6 plus hour car ride in a driving rainstorm(including a blown tire) I made a stop at the US Embassy to sign a medical form for Vlad- then off to Boryspil Airport and Delta flight 89 to JFK- 10 hours later( and a half bottle of red wine) I arrived safe and sound in the USA!!!My doggies were thrilled to see me- and the cats were ok as well! Went to work today and actually enjoyed it! But now I'm counting the days (like Sallyanne) until the two of them are home!!! Hopefully this chapter will be finalized on Oct 12 when I pick them up from the airport!! Its truly been an amazing experience, and after being gone for 26 days, i'm truly thankful for what I've got- especialy my family and friends who have supported us thru all of this!!
Rob
Monday afternoon in Connecticut- counting down the days until Sallyanne and Vlad are safe and sound in the USA! It looks like the 12th will be the day-if things go as scheduled(which you know by now just doesn't happen- at least with any consistency). Delta Airlines wants them to travel 20 hours to get home- but that won't happen! They are currently on stand-by for the 12th- everyone please jump in and pray that their seats become available!!! It wouldn't be right not to have another obstacle!! They are doing the best they can trying to keep busy- and I have 2 dogs and 2 cats that are VERY anxious to see them! And if you get a moment, stop and add anote- it keeps Sallyanne's spirits high knowing that you are all there supporting us, and secondly, than God that you live in the USA!!!
Rob
Hi Sallyanne & Vlad!
Welcome home Rob! I am so happy for you all. It has been a long haul but you have reaped your rewards two fold. We can't wait to see you and will keep our fingers crossed for the 12th. Nothing new here, keep busy the 12th will be here before you know it.
Debbie
Hi All
FIVE DAYS MORE IN ODESSA
So who is counting anyway!!! Every morning I get up and count how many more days in Odessa. Then we will travel to Kiev for his medical and some document signing and off to AMERICA!!! We have been spending alot of time with his friends. A couple of his friends, one in particular, Slavik, is no longer speaking with him, which is I believe upsetting to Vlad. Slavik is pretty upset that Vlad is leaving. We do have a small group of girls that seem to be BIG fans of Vlads and are all special to me also. They are all planning on coming to the train station to say their goodbyes. That will be REALLY hard. I wish they could all come with us!!! We pretty much have something to do everyday until we leave here. There are a few special people in Vlads life he needs to bring presents to and say goodbye. We went to Orphanage #5 and visited sweet Karyna and she was very surprised to see me. We brought her some cookies and spent a few minutes with her. There is also little Elesa who looks for me everyday at #4 because I bring her some kind of cookies or candy. We brought Vlad's classmates 8 pizzas yesterday and of course coke, which Vlad calls water. The children all loved it. There were about 12 of them. We have been jumping on alot of the city buses instead of a city car because of two reasons. Mom was tired of smelling TERRIBLE car fumes and the cost. The bus is about 50cents for the both of us and a car is about $8-15 depending on where you are going. Of course on the bus you do have to deal with the heat, because they dont open windows, and the smell!!! I think I am up to 50miles of walking since Rob and I arrived in Kiev. BUT not any skinnier!!! Well it is 11:40a.m here is Mr. Vlad is still sleeping!!! Lela says he has his nights and days mixed up like a newborn baby!!! LOL She is so cute!! Well I will keep you posted on our final days here. Lets hope I get out when I have planned too!!!
Hi All
This is the LONGEST week of my life!!! I get more and more homesick as the days go on!!! I only have 3 days left in Odessa but it cant come any quicker. I'm tired of the running around on buses and smelly cars. I'm tired of listening to people speak in Russian and not knowing what they are saying. Vlad had to go to bank yesterday because he has an account here and that took us 3 HOURS!! It is crazy. The bright side of yesterday was that we took 9 children to McDonalds and it only cost me $50.00!!!! Amazing. We went to Orphanage #4 found Elesa asked her if she wanted to go to McDonalds and she couldnt get ready any quicker!! She is adorable and then we all headed to Orphanage #5 and found Karyna and Anastasia and they too came with us and a friend of Vlad from #5 his name is Sasa, who is 17. We then all got on a bus to McDonalds and had fun. After McDonalds the children all went back and we took a car home to Lela's which isnt so easy. Once we found a driver it then took us 1 hour to get across town back to Lela's house. It is exhausting!!! I think everything is catching up with me because I have not felt good either in two days. I think today, Saturday, I am not leaving Lela's house. Too much work to even go to the grocery store. We are so spoiled at home!!! Lela is having water problems here too so last night you couldnt flush the toilets or wash your hands. FUN!! Just like camping. Well lets see what fun the weekend brings. All I can say is that Dima better have the birth certificate and passport in my hand on Tuesday so I can head back to Kiev Tuesday night!! I will NOT be a happy camper if this doesnt happen. Our flight is for Thursday and we already changed it enough times. Talk to you all soon
Sallyanne & Vlad
Hi All
YES YES YES!!!!! We have paperwork now to head to Kiev!!!
Hopefully everything goes smoothly there. Will be in Kiev on Wed. am. We are taking overnight train tonight from Odessa at 10p.m. and will arrive around 8a.m. in Kiev. Will keep you posted. !!!! Cannot wait to see everyone!!!
Sallyanne & Vlad
P.S. Vlad was soooo excited to see his new passport with his new name. He kept saying I never thought i would see this.
SallyAnne,
Mike (Misha) and I have had a blast Instant Messaging with Vlad (Daniel) these last few weeks. I spoke with him (IM) right before ya'll left for the train and he sounded so excited! He is sad to leave his friends and they are sad to see him go. But he is SO happy about coming home! We couldn't be happier for all of you! We will continue to keep you in our prayers. Especially that the times and flights and every thing goes as planned or even better!
Love,
Pam
I received an e-mail from Lela today. It says:
"I talked to Sally Ann on her cell Phone.
The train ride was very good, she slept all night this afternoon they got the blood work results, then they went to the Embassy, tomorrow morning at 8:30 they will pick up the papers at the Embassy, I think they have a flight out of Kiev in the later morning, they should be at their home by tomorrow evening, I am sure very weary but HAPPY>>
She said there were 12 youth from the Internot last night to see them off, many tears..girls and boys.
Daniel is deeply loved there."
they are officially on their way home !! .. will arrive at jfk around 4pm
Sallyanne and Vlad arrived at JFK on Thursday afternoon at 4pm est. Babushka, Poppy and Dad picked them up and they are home in Connecticut!!! This isn't the end of this adventure- its JUST THE BEGINNING!!!!!!!! I am compiling all of the details of this incredible journey and hope to actually publish abook detailing our adventures- the running title depicts Sallyanne's 40 days and nights in Ukraine- "Just like Noah's Ark"-
To be continued......
Rob
Welcome Home!!!!
See you tonight
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