Our new family members have been home from Ukraine for 2 and half years now.

The August heat and humidity are omnipresent.  On Tuesday, the built-in thermometer in my car read 105 degrees.  Today, it read 97 degrees as I traveled down the highway from church to home.  The heat is the opening

Our family has just returned from a week at the beach.  While a change of scenery is almost always a good thing, John and I have realized  (anew) that vacations can be a lot of work!  We are grateful to have had the time away (well, we

Ahh ,  Easter Sunday morning after a ride of an hour in the car to get to Church.  Everybody was squinting and Max was getting pretty grumpy.  But, you get the idea.  Alleluia.  Christ is Risen!    

Yesterday was my birthday.

Study Says Foreign Children Adapt Well Tuesday, May 24, 2005 6:45 PM EDT The Associated Press By LINDSEY TANNER A surprising new study disputes the notion that children adopted from other countries tend to be badly damaged emotionally because of the

This past Sunday was an occasion of great joy.  Ruslan, Oksana, and Max were baptized!  Our bishop, The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr., was present for his annual visitation and did the honors.  I knew that Ruslan and Oksana would be able to answe

Dear Folks,Where to start?  Our new family members have been home now for almost seven months, and they are doing beautifully.  Each of them seems to be settling in - although there are always issues - and becoming members of their new family.  I

I took this picture during our church's annual Easter Eve Teaparty and Egghunt.

 

Hello All, 2005 is officially here.  In fact, January has been sliding past the window so quickly that it has almost become a blur.  It's the 15th already.  This coming Sunday I return to the church where I serve as rector (pastor).  I have been

Today, the 7th, was Max's 6th birthday.  I suspect his birth was an occasion for celebration, but don't think there have been any celebrations since.  Ruslan tells me that birthdays were not celebrated in his family or at the orphanage. Today certa

From the Kyiv PostSupreme Court rules election void; revote by Dec. 26Dec 03, 21:43(AP) - Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko urged outgoing President Leonid Kuchma on Dec. 3 to fire the Cabinet and demanded a quick reshuff

Dear Family and Friends, Ukraine has been in the news of late.  The following is an editorial piece that has been circulating in several of the internet places I frequent.  Please pray for Ukraine and her people that this present crisis will resolv

Hello Friends and Family, it's been two weeks since I last posted.  We are continuing the process of settling in.  Not much time to write right now but thought i'd post a picture of the whole group.  Here they are - L-R, Ana, Max, Oksana, Ruslan,

Dear Family and Friends,  Whew!  Late last night marked one week home for us and our new family members.  It’s been a week of highs and lows.  Here on Saturday with all kids in bed, John and I are finally coming up for air.    We have been t

Hello all, sorry for the delay in posting, but we've barely had time to take a shower since getting home.  As has been said, "We are tired but happy."  Today is Monday.  We came in late, late Friday night to a wonderful welcome by family

Dear Family and Friends,We are completely official now and are heading home tomorrow (Friday).  Today we went to the Embassy to apply for the kids' visas and to do our exit interview with them.  It was not a lengthy process although it seemed like

Hi all, just a quick note...Ruslan, Oksana, and Max are now officially ours!  Court was yesterday and all went smoothly.  From there we went chasing around the region for birth certificates and other documents.  It ended up being  a fifteen hour

Dear Family and Friends,The past two days have been stretching for us.  We thought court might be on Friday, but no go.  Then, we hoped for Monday, but that didn?t happen either.  But, yeah!!!!, we go tomorrow on Tuesday.  We are grateful to Di

Dear Family and Friends,Good news on the Max front.  He is better according to the wonderful Dr. Anya.  She said that she had been very, very worried about him and was happy that he was responding well to the antibiotics.  I am thankful for modern

 Dear Family and Friends, Yesterday afternoon, Tuesday the 21st, found us on our way to the American Medical Clinic. A check out at the clinic is the normal practice for immigration to the US and usually takes place after the court hearing. In this

Hi all, today was a great day.  We did go clothes shopping with Dima and  a lady friend who showed us (Don Z and kids, Jennie and Ruslan) shortcuts to get to the Trade Center shopping area.  It had a very nice childrens' store. It was past the tra