Ah! I can't believe we're leaving in a week! Holy cow!!! I am super excited and super nervous all at once. I'm not looking forward to being gone so long. I've spent a good part of this week trying to get movies ripped and into iTunes. I've also been trying to go through the house, room by room, and make a packing list. That way I can put a circle with a 1, 2 or 3 by each thing so I know what's in what suitcase when it's time to pack. Best laid plans, right? We'll see how this next week goes.
As far as the phone call this morning, Ira was very talkative. Yulya has changed her questions as well and now makes sure Ira needs to tell her something more than, "yes" "no" or "nes nyoo." LOL It was really nice to hear her be chatty.
The quarantine has been lifted so they all went back to school this week. She's not taking the dance classes anymore and I'm not really clear on why. She still loves to dance but I guess she didn't want to do the class? I would love to get both her and Little One in dance classes when we get back. I'd love to do one myself!
Little One wanted to know if she liked her necklace we'd given her. She said she does. That was encouraging to me because I think she'd have told us that yes she likes it, but she doesn't want to come to America if she wasn't at least thinking about it as an option. I don't want to get my hopes up, but it was still encouraging.
As usual, Little Ira was trying to take over the conversation. I'm glad she's feeling better though. Our Ira hadn't been on more than a minute or so before Little Ira was wanting to talk to us. Yulya (she is so awesome) told her that we were going to talk to her first and THEN we could talk to Little Ira. LOL Yulya did say it was still difficult to talk with her because Little Ira was always in the background saying things like, "Give me the phone!" "Ask them ____." and so on.
When we did finally talk with Little Ira she asked the same question as the last few weeks. "Will you come take me to America?" Yulya tried to tell her the same answer of we don't know what will happen when we get over there, but she insisted Yulya ask us anyway. We told her the same thing, but how sad! I just hope and pray we can find a family that will bring her back.
All in all, it was a very nice conversation though. We will call again next week and then hopefully see them all soon! We get to go down to meet Yulya here in a couple of hours and I'm very excited about that. We told her we want to throw her in our luggage and bring her with us. :^)
Showing posts with label phone calls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phone calls. Show all posts
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Miscellaneous and Another Phone Call
First off, we just got off the phone with Ira again. She loved the package and was very excited about the stuff. She especially mentioned the sweater my parents sent her and said she's pretty now. LOL Yulya (as I've now learned how she spells her name) asked her to tell her what she got and she said the sweater and things for her hair and such. No mention of the "Big Sister" necklace or the letter though. We talked with Yulya before we called Ira and told her what all we'd said in our letter to her. We talked for a bit after Ira hung up and she was somewhat surprised that she hadn't mentioned the letter at all. Her impression was that when she wasn't wanting to come to America she told us that. At least twice in the phone call, if I remember right. She wasn't afraid to tell us that or anything. Yulya was encouraged that even with what was said in our letter Ira didn't say anything about still not wanting to come. Ah, the unknown.
Anyway...they were, big surprise, watching TV. At first they'd been watching Robin Hood and then they switched to wrestling. "Do you LIKE wrestling?" "Nes Niyou" (I don't know.) LOL They are still under this "Health Protection" thing so no school and such. Little Ira is now in the hospital. Poor girl. It must have happened later in the week because she'd told Ira to tell us thank you for the things in the package. One of the other girls got on (we have no idea if it was one of the other kids that had come to America or if it was one of the other kids) to tell us thank you as well. Yulya actually suggested we call Ellie to see what is going to happen if they're still under this health protection when we get over there. She said it's VERY complicated to get things done what that is in place. Even paperwork and such. That might be a lovely wrench thrown into things. Hopefully it will be lifted before we get there and everything will be fine.
Our conversation was a little shorter today than the past couple of weeks. Not having Little Ira there did that, in part, but she also said she needed to go take a shower. We told her we missed her and loved her and I did hear her say, "Love you!" in English. Yulya had said Ira was excited to hear us talking in Russian. LOL We just need to learn more....
In other news, I picked up a bunch of stuff from Wendy yesterday. I had a very nice conversation with her too. Thank goodness for such wonderful people!
I've also been reading "The Connected Child" that Andreas suggested. It's been quite interesting. The adventure of it all....
Oh yeah. And my arm hurts because I got a vaccination yesterday. Nothing weird. Just time to update my tetanus and such. Ow though.
Anyway...they were, big surprise, watching TV. At first they'd been watching Robin Hood and then they switched to wrestling. "Do you LIKE wrestling?" "Nes Niyou" (I don't know.) LOL They are still under this "Health Protection" thing so no school and such. Little Ira is now in the hospital. Poor girl. It must have happened later in the week because she'd told Ira to tell us thank you for the things in the package. One of the other girls got on (we have no idea if it was one of the other kids that had come to America or if it was one of the other kids) to tell us thank you as well. Yulya actually suggested we call Ellie to see what is going to happen if they're still under this health protection when we get over there. She said it's VERY complicated to get things done what that is in place. Even paperwork and such. That might be a lovely wrench thrown into things. Hopefully it will be lifted before we get there and everything will be fine.
Our conversation was a little shorter today than the past couple of weeks. Not having Little Ira there did that, in part, but she also said she needed to go take a shower. We told her we missed her and loved her and I did hear her say, "Love you!" in English. Yulya had said Ira was excited to hear us talking in Russian. LOL We just need to learn more....
In other news, I picked up a bunch of stuff from Wendy yesterday. I had a very nice conversation with her too. Thank goodness for such wonderful people!
I've also been reading "The Connected Child" that Andreas suggested. It's been quite interesting. The adventure of it all....
Oh yeah. And my arm hurts because I got a vaccination yesterday. Nothing weird. Just time to update my tetanus and such. Ow though.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Next Phone Call
This last week was filled with all kinds of stuff. When we're "doing school" I all of a sudden transform into a work-at-home mom. No longer do I have the whole day to do what I'd like to do. It's something I wouldn't trade for all the free time in the world. I love the bond that I have with my daughter because of it and look forward to what will happen when Ira (hopefully) joins our family as well.
Husband started a new job this last Monday. I enjoyed getting back into our routine and having the time with Little One. Her birthday was this last Friday as well. She was SO excited and had such a nice evening. Because of Husband's new job though, we couldn't call Ira on Little One's birthday like we'd wanted to. Instead, we called on Saturday. Mom and Dad came over for the call as well, which was very nice.
Our conversation went well and much like the last couple we've had. She did seem excited to hear from us again, though not quite as much as before perhaps. The first thing she did was to congratulate Little One on her birthday. :^) We'd told her last week that we'd call around that time and it was sweet of her to remember. We told her what all we did for her birthday.
She told us she'd been in the hospital this last week. One of the other girls we know was there now due to a bad cough so we think it was probably the same with her. She said they'd shut down the school because of whatever is going around over there. We asked if they were able to play outside and the answer was no, for the same reason. What?? Keeping the kids cooped up all together like that is going to HELP stop the sickness? We need to get her out of there.
As usual, Little Ira wanted to talk as well. Her first question was the same as last week. Will you come get me? At least we had an answer for her ready this time, but still. She was happy Grandma and Grandpa were there to talk and must have thought we'd gone to there house. She wanted to talk with Justin, Nathan and Lexi (my friend's family is living with my parents at the time.) LOL She told us she loves us so much. *sigh* She had to run and take a shower and wanted us to wait for her to get back. We told her that we'd probably be gone by the then, but we'd call again next week. We got to talk for a minute to our Ira again, but by then none of us had much to say.
We're down to 3 weeks until we leave now. That seems so much shorter than the 4 weeks it was before. LOL It looks like we'll be having a meeting with other hosting families again before we take off though. That will be VERY nice. I'm already excited to see everyone again.
Husband started a new job this last Monday. I enjoyed getting back into our routine and having the time with Little One. Her birthday was this last Friday as well. She was SO excited and had such a nice evening. Because of Husband's new job though, we couldn't call Ira on Little One's birthday like we'd wanted to. Instead, we called on Saturday. Mom and Dad came over for the call as well, which was very nice.
Our conversation went well and much like the last couple we've had. She did seem excited to hear from us again, though not quite as much as before perhaps. The first thing she did was to congratulate Little One on her birthday. :^) We'd told her last week that we'd call around that time and it was sweet of her to remember. We told her what all we did for her birthday.
She told us she'd been in the hospital this last week. One of the other girls we know was there now due to a bad cough so we think it was probably the same with her. She said they'd shut down the school because of whatever is going around over there. We asked if they were able to play outside and the answer was no, for the same reason. What?? Keeping the kids cooped up all together like that is going to HELP stop the sickness? We need to get her out of there.
As usual, Little Ira wanted to talk as well. Her first question was the same as last week. Will you come get me? At least we had an answer for her ready this time, but still. She was happy Grandma and Grandpa were there to talk and must have thought we'd gone to there house. She wanted to talk with Justin, Nathan and Lexi (my friend's family is living with my parents at the time.) LOL She told us she loves us so much. *sigh* She had to run and take a shower and wanted us to wait for her to get back. We told her that we'd probably be gone by the then, but we'd call again next week. We got to talk for a minute to our Ira again, but by then none of us had much to say.
We're down to 3 weeks until we leave now. That seems so much shorter than the 4 weeks it was before. LOL It looks like we'll be having a meeting with other hosting families again before we take off though. That will be VERY nice. I'm already excited to see everyone again.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
3rd Phone Call
Yesterday we tried calling Ira to wish her a Happy New Year and to see if the package had arrived yet. Not to mention see how she was doing. We had a lot of trouble getting the phone to actually ring there. Yulia (our interpreter) was so sweet to put up with us trying and trying since we had to hang up with her every time we tried again. We finally got it to ring and for some reason it had put us through to the wrong number! We tried turning my phone all the way off and restarting it and that time we were able to get through to the orphanage. Even though it was only 8:30pm their time, we were told that Ira was already in bed. We thought that was strange on New Year's Eve, but hey.
We called again this morning, a little earlier this time, and were able to talk with her. As always, it was good to hear her voice. What was especially nice was that she seemed very happy to talk to us this time. Last time she didn't seem unhappy we'd called, but this time she seemed very excited to hear from us. It was just different. Yulia asked her why she'd gone to bed so early the night before. I guess someone from the village (maybe a worker at the orphanage? We haven't figured that out yet) had taken all but three of the girls out for the night and she was one of the three that didn't go. I don't know if it was something she'd done or just that they'd only had room for a certain number of girls. We didn't ask. She said she'd been very bored and it hadn't been a great New Year's. Sad for her, but that could be very good for us. It may have had something to do with why she'd been excited to hear from us as well.
Anyway, she is still taking dance classes of some kind and loving it. Husband did get bold enough to tell her that we have good dance classes here too. LOL She said they were all watching some dance show (sounded like kind of a "So You Think You Can Dance?" show or something like that) before they went to bed. The package hasn't arrived yet, but she is excited for when it does. She's made us a card that hopefully will get mailed to us soon. We're excited for that.
Little Ira wanted to talk with us as well so we did. She was practicing her English and it was very cute. "Hello. How are you? Goodbye!" LOL She asked Yulia when the package was going to arrive and before even telling us, Yulia told her not to worry and that it should be there soon. LOL That sounds very much like Little Ira. :^)
Our Ira got back on the phone soon after that we told her we miss her and love her. I was trying to remember how to say "I love you" in Ukrainian and was too focused on that to hear her say "I love you" in English. Yulia caught it though and as soon as Ira hung up she said, "Did you hear that?" :^)
Nothing was said about adoption or anything like it. We are very encouraged by how well it went though. We are still nervous about how it will all turn out, but we have a bit more hope now than we've had for a couple of weeks.
We actually talked with Yulia for about 15 or 20 minutes more after we hung up with Ira and got to know her a little more. She is such a sweetheart and we can't wait to meet her as well. We will go do that before we head to Ukraine so we can take a picture of us all and show Ira who she's been talking to. She said she is getting rather attached to Ira as well so hopefully this all works out well and we're able to bring Ira to meet her when we get back.
It was a good day. :^)
We called again this morning, a little earlier this time, and were able to talk with her. As always, it was good to hear her voice. What was especially nice was that she seemed very happy to talk to us this time. Last time she didn't seem unhappy we'd called, but this time she seemed very excited to hear from us. It was just different. Yulia asked her why she'd gone to bed so early the night before. I guess someone from the village (maybe a worker at the orphanage? We haven't figured that out yet) had taken all but three of the girls out for the night and she was one of the three that didn't go. I don't know if it was something she'd done or just that they'd only had room for a certain number of girls. We didn't ask. She said she'd been very bored and it hadn't been a great New Year's. Sad for her, but that could be very good for us. It may have had something to do with why she'd been excited to hear from us as well.
Anyway, she is still taking dance classes of some kind and loving it. Husband did get bold enough to tell her that we have good dance classes here too. LOL She said they were all watching some dance show (sounded like kind of a "So You Think You Can Dance?" show or something like that) before they went to bed. The package hasn't arrived yet, but she is excited for when it does. She's made us a card that hopefully will get mailed to us soon. We're excited for that.
Little Ira wanted to talk with us as well so we did. She was practicing her English and it was very cute. "Hello. How are you? Goodbye!" LOL She asked Yulia when the package was going to arrive and before even telling us, Yulia told her not to worry and that it should be there soon. LOL That sounds very much like Little Ira. :^)
Our Ira got back on the phone soon after that we told her we miss her and love her. I was trying to remember how to say "I love you" in Ukrainian and was too focused on that to hear her say "I love you" in English. Yulia caught it though and as soon as Ira hung up she said, "Did you hear that?" :^)
Nothing was said about adoption or anything like it. We are very encouraged by how well it went though. We are still nervous about how it will all turn out, but we have a bit more hope now than we've had for a couple of weeks.
We actually talked with Yulia for about 15 or 20 minutes more after we hung up with Ira and got to know her a little more. She is such a sweetheart and we can't wait to meet her as well. We will go do that before we head to Ukraine so we can take a picture of us all and show Ira who she's been talking to. She said she is getting rather attached to Ira as well so hopefully this all works out well and we're able to bring Ira to meet her when we get back.
It was a good day. :^)
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Some News
Today we received some news. There is a family (lots of you know, I'm sure) that just got back with their kids a few months ago. They called Ira to see why she changed her mind and to tell her of their experiences. What it boils down to is that she doesn't want to leave her friends. Things are going well for her now and when told what's going to happen when she turns 16 she said she didn't care about that right now. Basically, she's 12 years old and can't see far enough ahead to understand what is really going to happen to her. She also has a family there in the town that takes her out and does fun things with her every so often. No, they've never mentioned anything about adopting her. She does like us and enjoyed her time here.
The good thing is that at the beginning of the conversation she was still, "No, I don't want to be adopted." By the end, however, she said yes she does, but no she doesn't. To me at least this isn't a, "No way" kind of a thing and there is a chance she'll change her mind.
Our plan of action right now is to call her often and send her pictures of the things we're doing together. Not to mention, keep praying. Hopefully things will go even a little better when that package arrives. It should be there sometime this next week.
The good thing is that at the beginning of the conversation she was still, "No, I don't want to be adopted." By the end, however, she said yes she does, but no she doesn't. To me at least this isn't a, "No way" kind of a thing and there is a chance she'll change her mind.
Our plan of action right now is to call her often and send her pictures of the things we're doing together. Not to mention, keep praying. Hopefully things will go even a little better when that package arrives. It should be there sometime this next week.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
2nd Phone Call
We called Ira again today. It didn't exactly go as we thought it would. At first it was great. It was nice to hear her again. We told her we'd gotten together with a bunch of other families and sent a big package of things. Inside was a box for her as well as for Little Ira. There was also a bunch of things for them to share with all the kids.
She told us the kids were learning some dance steps and about what they were doing for St. Nicholas's day tomorrow. I guess someone is coming to visit the orphanage and the kids are performing for whoever it is that's coming. I got the impression it wasn't like having our Santa coming. She seemed very excited for that.
Then she told us that she really wants to see us again, but she likes living in Ukraine and is happy there. She doesn't want to come live in America.
Yeah. Still trying to process this.
She told us the kids were learning some dance steps and about what they were doing for St. Nicholas's day tomorrow. I guess someone is coming to visit the orphanage and the kids are performing for whoever it is that's coming. I got the impression it wasn't like having our Santa coming. She seemed very excited for that.
Then she told us that she really wants to see us again, but she likes living in Ukraine and is happy there. She doesn't want to come live in America.
Yeah. Still trying to process this.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Happy Day
We got to talk to Ira this morning! It was so much fun and so good to hear her voice. Some of our friends called to our orphanage to talk to a girl they hosted and that got us super excited to talk to Ira. We ended up using a very sweet Ukrainian girl going to BYU on a 3-way call to the orphanage and it worked great! We just have to be very mindful of the 9 hour time difference.
The best part was that she seemed very excited to talk to us. We told her we loved her and that we hoped to see her soon and she was very excited to know things are moving forward quickly.
As with most girls that age, we'd ask her a question and she'd answer with a very uninformative, "good." LOL We told her we'd call her again when we had a travel date so she knows when to expect us.
It made our day to talk to her and know that she is still very much wanting us to come get her. It was likened to calling home for Christmas on your mission. Very cool, but also a great longing to be there with her. Hopefully soon.
The best part was that she seemed very excited to talk to us. We told her we loved her and that we hoped to see her soon and she was very excited to know things are moving forward quickly.
As with most girls that age, we'd ask her a question and she'd answer with a very uninformative, "good." LOL We told her we'd call her again when we had a travel date so she knows when to expect us.
It made our day to talk to her and know that she is still very much wanting us to come get her. It was likened to calling home for Christmas on your mission. Very cool, but also a great longing to be there with her. Hopefully soon.
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