Somewhere in the Ukraine

This is Rachel, Tonya's sister. Tonya and Joe realize that everyone is in desperate need of an update so they have handed over the controls to me (at least for today) so I can spread some news. I titled the blog somewhere in the Ukraine because Tonya and Joe are currently in a small town about 1 1/2 hrs West of Kiev that they don't know the name of. They have bought a few maps but the town doesn't show up on any of them. The town has one hotel, one restaurant, and yesterday they saw a horse and wagon. Not to surprising they have no access to the internet. Thank God for the blackberry and communication by e-mail or we would all go insane.

Tonya and Joe traveled to the orphanage on Friday expecting to get to meet the children they had been assigned at the last referral. They were told at noon that the director was out and to try again at 2......still no director, at 4....still no director...at 5 still no director. They aren't allowed to visit the orphanage on the weekend so they camped out in the one hotel and waited until today.

I am going to insert Joe's e-mail from today's visit. "Well, we had a good meeting with the orphanage administration this morning that finally led to a meeting with Vitali (boy age 3), Dima (boy age 6.5) and Oxana (girl age 12).All went very well overall, with the orphanage Director stating she thought we looked like able parents and that she could support the adoption. The big wrench in the works is Oxana and her decision to come to the US. Convincing a 12-year old to think about her future and leave the relative safety of the orphanage, all her friends and teachers, her Grandfather - basically her whole world - is a tall task. Something we have only a few days to convince her of.Tonya and I are looking forward to something getting easier soon!!!Joe"

All three of the children are in good health and have been in the orphanage for approximately a year. The Grandfather Joe mentions had been the primary care giver but placed them in the orphanage when he was no longer able to care for them. Noone wants to see the children seperated from each other. Tonya and Joe are going to spend the next few days visiting with the children and then ultimately Oxana will decide for all three. Wow!

Tonya and Joe really appreciate all the thoughts, prayers, and warm wishes from home. Now we are waiting again to see what the next few days will bring.