Emotional Roller Coaster

Tuesday we should have a nice, quiet family day at home. The evening's entertainment was supposed to be horseback riding at a nearby horse ranch. We did not get to enjoy either of those things. Instead, I received a call from my sister, who had received a call from the Hospice staff caring from my dad. They said that my dad was getting worse, and that he really wanted to meet Vanya before he went back to the Ukraine. So, we ended up making the 3-hour trip to Grand Rapids to spend some time with my dad.

(If you want to know more about my dad, you can click here to see my sister's blog. She has a little synopsis of what's been going on with my dad for the last 1-1/2 years. You can also read the 2 posts below that to see some more pictures of Vanya. For a special treat, you can even watch a video of Vanya talking. It's a classic!!!)





















I'm not sure how or why I thought to think of it, but we also brought a translator with us. She is a sophomore at IU and was born in the Ukraine. Despite being here in the U.S. since she was 4-years old, she speaks fluent Russian. Even though Vanya mostly speaks Ukrainian, he understands Russian. This young lady was a godsend: we asked her to explain to Vanya that my dad is very sick (we did NOT mention the whole dying issue), that he wanted to meet Vanya, and that he wasn't contagious. He seemed to understand and was fine with the explanation.

What he wasn't fine with was the puking issue. He got sick twice on the way there, and. . . twice on the way home! I was really impressed that he was willing to eat dinner right after the second time! We went to a place that had both KFC and Taco Bell. We thought he'd want tacos since he's had those here and really liked them. Nope, he chose chicken strips and sure enough, he did eat them. I had to laugh when he wouldn't eat the mashed potatoes. Apparently in the Ukraine, nothing is instant or pre-made. I guess the mashed potatoes at KFC don't stand up to the real thing!

I have to say we were so proud of him with my dad. While Dad's not in a hospital (he's in an assisted nursing home-- in his own room), nor is he hooked up to any machines, he does not look well. To any little kid, I think it would be a daunting thing, especially when you've never met the man before. He politely shook Dad's hand, and smiled at him. Dad seemed content to just watch Vanya as he interacted with Tim and I, my sister and nephew, and the translator. I asked Vanya to wear his Michigan State hat for my dad, and Dad did notice it. He later asked Vanya if he could wear it for awhile. Vanya was very gracious and handed it over without any qualms. Dad was very quiet and slept part of the time. He's getting harder to understand as he becomes weaker. We stayed for about 2-1/2 hours, and when we left, Vanya was great about giving him a hug goodbye. Unless a miracle happens, I don't believe Dad will be around when Vanya comes back. It was, and is, very sad to think about!

On the way home, we asked the translator to ask Vanya some things like, what is his favorite subject in school (writing-- yeah!), does he like to read (no-- boo! We'll work on the later!), does he have any clothes or toys of his own (no :-( ), what does he do at recess time at school (run-- cross country or track, anyone?), does he have a best friend (yes, 3-- potential brothers for him, sons for us??????), does he like school food or Papa's food the best (Papa's hands down!), and does he know that he goes back to "school" on Friday (no-- big, huge eyes!). When asked if he missed school, he replied, "NO! I want to stay here in America with my new Mama and Papa!" We had her tell him that we would be visiting him soon (more on that in another post) and that he could back and "visit" us again. While he seemed sad that he couldn't stay, he looked pleased that we would come see him. Lastly, we asked her to tell him that he needed to start thinking about what toys, if any, he wanted to take back to school, knowing that they wouldn't really be his anymore. He'd have to share them. He nodded with understanding and then promptly threw up!

We got home about 11:00 that night, and we decided Vanya could pass on the shower (much to his disappointment). Between the emotional roller coaster and Vanya being sick so many times, it was a hard day for everyone.

Once again, if you see any pictures without Vanya in them, he probably had the camera!!

Rocket Man!

Monday was somewhat uneventful in the fact that it was the first day we didn't have the day camp. Vanya spent the morning playing with his new Magnetix toy that his Uncle Bob and Aunt Michelle bought him. He's taken many pictures of his creations. I'll include some of them here.
























In the afternoon we had an appointment with a dentist who was providing the Ukrainian kids with a free check-up. (Vanya did get sick on the way there, but we're attributing it to the many turns we had to make to get there. There just wasn't a straight way to get from one side of town to the other.) He came through the check-up with flying colors which was surprising. Typically these children do not tend to have the best teeth. One of the other children had to go back in for further work this morning (Tues) so we were quite happy it wasn't us. And, once again, he didn't protest or get upset throughout the process. We were not allowed back with him, so we were thrilled to see him all smiles and carrying a balloon when he came back to the waiting room.

After the dentist, we stopped by Junior Achievement since it was on the way home. I worked here for nearly 7 years so I had some former co-workers and friends who wanted to meet him. I forgot to bring in my camera so no pictures from this meeting. He's been doing a great job meeting the many people we've presented him with over the last two weeks.

I am attaching some pictures from another round with the rocket sprinkler. I just love his face in some of these. A definite "good buy!" If you look carefully, you will see Teagan having a great time also! I took a few videos so I am going to try to attach one.
















In the evening we finally had our fire in our fire pit, and it wouldn't be a good fire without S'mores!!! Our friends, the "Harks", came over to share them with us. Vanya had the camera most of the time, so if you see a picture without Vanya in it, you'll know he took the picture. Professional photography could be in his future!

Three Posts for You!

Yes, there are three posts below from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We hope you are enjoying our adventure!

K, T, and V

Family Day?

According to our hosting schedule, today was supposed to be a family day which included a trip to Indianapolis for a Russian/Ukrainian church service. Well, Vanya went to Indy with our camp coordinator, Anna, and Tim and I went to Grand Rapids to see my dad.

While Vanya did go 6 days without getting car sick, today we weren't so lucky. Not 20 minutes after we put him in the van to travel south, he got sick. And, just as he was about 5 minutes away from Anna's house tonight, he got sick again. Poor little guy! He adamantly refused to take his bear with him, (we're not sure if he got peer pressure) and he was stuck looking at the seat in front of him the whole way down. Anna also mentioned some strong perfume from two of the other passengers. We picked him up from Anna's around 8:00 tonight, and he seems none the worse for wear. I guess we'll keep working on other techniques.

We were fortunate that Anna was able to take Vanya with her today. We thought it would be best for him to be with friends from his school, instead of with us. For those of you who don't know, my dad was placed in Hospice care last week. I felt it was important to go visit him today and see for myself how he is doing. The prognosis is not good, and my family and I would appreciate any prayers you could send his way. I showed Dad pictures we had taken of Vanya, and he seemed to enjoy hearing about our adventures. I can only hope and pray that he is still with us next year when we bring Vanya back.

Family Fun on Saturday

Saturday was the first day that my family (who all live in Michigan) could drive down to meet Vanya. Both my sister and her family and my brother and his family came down for the day. I was a little concerned because we were warned not to present too many people to him at once. We read that when they are overwhelmed (just like American kids), they tend to act out. Well, Vanya proved the research wrong!


To circumvent all of the relatives arriving at once, my sister, brother-in-law, and 5-year old nephew arrived first. They brought lots of things to share with Vanya. The first one was a Playdoh barbershop kit. Vanya quickly learned how to make the hair “grow” and laughed quite a bit at his creations. Most of my family members are big Michigan State fans, so my sister presented him with a MSU baseball hat. He proudly wore it most of the day.

Later in the afternoon, my brother, sister-in-law, and nieces, ages 18 and 21, arrived. Vanya wasn’t sure now about all these people together, and he stayed by our sides for awhile, but soon he was playing football, including keep away, with his two uncles, coloring and putting puzzles together with his cousins, and taking pictures of everyone. (These next 5 pictures were taken by Vanya! My brother and sister are in a picture together here.) My sister’s two dogs came too, so even Teagan had someone to terrorize.

Another fun event in the afternoon was the rocket sprinkler brought to Fort Fun by my sister. Vanya and my nephew put on swimsuits and my brother-in-law operated the controls. The shrieks of laughter could be heard down the street. However, the loudest squeals came from the rest of us who were just watching. You see, the wind was pretty robust that day, and occasionally the water would spray the rest of us who were sitting a good 20-25 feet away. This from a stream of water that was only going up straight! While the two boys certainly thought this was a great toy, Teagan was the one who got the most enjoyment out of it. I think she thought it was brought especially for her. She’s always loved the water and hose games, so this was a natural fit. Both Teagan and Vanya will be pleased to know that I went to Meijer this morning and bought one of these rocket sprinklers for them! I figure Teagan will get good use out of it even after Vanya leaves this week.

Another cookout for dinner, and this time Vanya tried a hot dog. No bun for him, but he did eat his hot dog all gone. He also experienced another American favorite, chocolate chip cookie bars. Yum!! He was also happy he was allowed to have barbecue potato chips—one of his favorites!

I’ve been planning s’mores ever since he arrived, but again tonight it didn’t happen. Just as we were taking a family photo outside, it started raining, no really, it poured! We all ran inside where Vanya was totally content to play with anyone and everyone. He learned what the words “stop” and “go” meant while my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew tickled him. They may be his new favorite words! Vanya also seemed fascinated with my oldest niece’s craftiness. She made both boys a woven bracelet out of colors they selected. I don’t think he’s taken it off yet. While his favorite relative of Tim’s seems to be his niece, on my side, it’s my brother. Vanya wasn’t too far away from him most of the evening. They wrestled, tickled, and had a great deal of fun together. In fact, when my brother’s family left, Vanya hugged everyone good bye and hugged my brother over and over again. I don’t think he wanted him to go!

Each day it is so neat to see more and more of Vanya come out for us to see and experience. He is such a happy go-lucky boy! Nothing seems to faze him much, and he hasn’t cried, whined, or had a melt down the entire time he’s been here. Some of the other families haven’t been so lucky. One of the ladies at the day camp asked me if we were moving forward with the paperwork to adopt him. When I told her we most definitely were, she said, “Well, if you weren’t, almost all of us would have taken him!” Sorry, we’re hoping God and the Ukraine government allows him to be ours!

Last Day of Day Camp

In case you are confused, I posted Thursday's activities on Friday, and I am now posting Friday's activities on Sunday! Got it???? :-)

Friday was the last day of the day camp. I was sad to see the end of this because the women from the church who coordinated the English lessons, arts & craft projects, songs, and gym activities were SO awesome! Two years ago I helped during the very first day camp, and we did not have all these wonderful ladies assisting us. I cannot express enough words to say what a benefit they were to the success of the day camp. We were truly blessed. The picture shows five of the women from this great group!

Friday’s English lesson consisted of some science weather words: snow, rain, sun, thunderstorm, tornado, hurricane, etc. Vanya again spoke up, willing to participate most of the time. He was also willing to take part in the memory game which used the same weather cards. He and I have been playing Memory at home as a way to learn some English words, so he was happy to play a familiar game. The craft that day was a very cool butterfly thermometer. We have it on the fridge.

After lunch it was a short trip to Science Central, a hands-on science and math center for kids (little AND big!) It was so hilarious to see the look of surprise on his face when, after turning on a high-pressure water hose on Tim (all water is contained in a Plexiglas case), Tim aimed one at him. He shrunk back, anticipating getting wet, until he realized it worked both ways—no one was going to get wet! He laughed good-naturedly.

He had three favorites that afternoon. One, way up above was a bike that you could ride around a ring. The only problem is that you lean to the left too much, and you’ll fall off the bike into a net below. Now, the bike is weighted so that shouldn’t happen, but it still put a large pit in my stomach to see him riding it. I was very happy to see the man who was overseeing the exhibit holding onto the back end all the way around! Vanya’s second favorite was an exhibit depicting a sewer system. It took some encouragement for him to climb down the hole and follow the tunnels around (I guess it was pitch black in there!) but once we got some other kids to show him how to do it, he went back in about 5 or 6 more times. The last thing we did before we left was travel up and down the main staircase MANY times. It was part musical, part sci-fi sound effects. The faster you ran up or down, the more music or sound effects you could create.

Dinner that night was at Carlos O’Kelly’s, a Mexican restaurant. According to Vanya, chips and salsa are good, but nothing else was! Prepared for this event, we made him some Mac and Cheese when we got home. Quick Russian/Ukrainian lesson for you: to say macaroni in his language, you say. . . . wait for it. . . macaroni!!!!

Because it was Friday, we let him stay up a little bit later to watch Scooby Doo on one of the TV channels. I tried to get him to watch the Olympics opening ceremonies, but he wasn’t too interested. Then, of course, it was shower time before bed. Vanya is so cute, because you can ask him if he’s tired (nyet=no!), but if you ask him if he’s ready for a shower, you always get a positive response. He knows bedtime comes right after the shower, and he doesn’t ever protest. We try to make it fun for him by letting him select a book for me to read to him, bringing in Papa and Teagan for a family snuggle time, and then providing lots of cuddles, hugs, and kisses before lights out. He thoroughly enjoys this routine, and it makes me wish, just a little bit, to keep him this age forever! We’ve learned how to say “good night” in Russian, and he’s learned how to say “good night” in English. Such a great partnership!