McDonald Family Adoption

Good Bye New Hampshire:(

2010-12-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day in New Hampshire. We had to say good bye to our cousins on Monday, which was really sad. We have been at my grandmas and Toby has fallen in love with this singing Santa the shakes his hips. He starts snapping and shaking his hips. Its hilarious to watch him. For my auntie it was hard to say good bye to Toby, because she grew attached to him. Tommorrow mornig we head off to Nebraska. Please pray for us to have safe travels and that Toby will do as well as he had done. Good bye mountains. good bye trees, here we come cornfields.

Christmas!!

2010-12-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

Today is Christmas as you all may know. Toby was smiley all day. I think he liked ripping the paper instead of getting the presents. He got Patriot, Celtic, Red Sox, etc. But as you may know since we have to drive back to Nebraska, we only had 1/2 of our Christmas. We have had so much fun at auntie and mammys house. We have made sugar cookies and auntie just adores little T.J. More pics to come:)

Trip to NH

2010-12-21T05:54:00.000-08:00

On Friday night at about 8:00 we set out on the road to go to NH. Toby did REALLY well every rest stop we would let him walk around, but he mostly slept the whole way(which was good). We made it here in 28 hours!! God is AMAZING!!! We didn't see a flake of snow or even a hint of traffic. We arrived here safely on Sunday at 1:00am. We surprised our auntie and she hasn't even met T.J yet. She was in tears when she saw us it was AWESOME!!! Well I'll keep you updated on T.J's 1st Christmas and New Year. Also don't forget to order Mia Bella candles.

Fundraiser

2010-12-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here is little Gracie. Isn't she sweet?

My family is selling Mia Bella candles to help a friend bring her little girl, Gracie, home from an orphanage in Russia! They are 16 oz. double wick canldes in MANY scents for $20. They would make GREAT Christmas presents!!! Let me know if you are interested!

Scroll down to see T.J.s first time with Santa

T.J.'s 1st time seeing Santa!!!

2010-12-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday T.J. got to see Santa for the 1st time!! We didn't know how he was going to react, but all he did was stare at him thinking who is this weird guy. Also I forgot to mention T.J. LOVES music!!! He also learned some new dancing moves:) He now barely crawls and he is able to do karate kicks, spin, reach down and grab stuff off the floor. Boy, has he grown!!!

2010-12-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

Update

2010-12-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

T.J. and his big sissies!!

T.J. and his Papa

GOO!! Patriots

What can I say? I LOVE American food!!

Hi everyone you are probably wondering what happend or how is T.J.. Well once my dad got home we got to busy that he just for got about blogging. So I'm here to give you the update. We were so happy once my dad and T.J. got home. We were waiting for that day for months and it had finally come!! Now, I couldm't imagine myself without T.J. He has earned alot, and gained alot! He learned sign language he can even talk a little. He can also walk! He is a mimicker. He copies EVERYTHING!!! Whenever he hears music he'll bob his head and tap his hand, snap his fingers, roll his arms, or someother dance moves that we have never seen. He LOVES cars especially papa's truck. Every day after my dad comes home from work my dad will play with T.J., then after awhile T.J will start making a car sound and dad give T.J. a little ride in his truck. He just loves his papa!! Right now he is in to hitting or punching himself when he is notty. He also has gained over 5 pounds!!! He just loves American food. He also got 16 teeth pulled!!! So he has only five teeth and on those teeth are silver crowns. So right now T.J. can only eat mushy stuff and some times meat. His favorite thing to eat is either French Fries, ice cream, and mashed or sweet potatos. Other than that T.J. the cutiest most cuddliest thing I have ever seen!! What a wonderful gift God has blssed us with!! Oh, and in case your wodering this is EmmaLee T.J.'s biggest sister.

Pete the Purple Pumpkin

2010-11-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

Pete the Purple Pumpkin

Written By EmmaLee McDonald

Dedicated to my little pumpkin Toby. There once was this purple pumpkin named Pete. Unlike any other pumpkin, Pete was purple. Every fall he hoped he would get picked. But every fall he didn’t get picked, he wondered why. He thought, “Sure I might be purple, but you can still carve me and eat my seeds.” The only thing different was his outside. People would look at him and then laugh. Every pumpkin thought that Pete was the kindest, sweetest pumpkin ever! They also wondered why Pete wasn’t getting picked. Now, Pete was getting older and the farmers said that if Pete didn’t get picked this fall, he would have to be thrown away. Pete didn’t want this to happen, so he hoped this fall would be different. Two days went passed and people only looked at him and laughed. Then, the next day, a little girl with a pink tutu and a tiara looked at Pete and said “I want this one.” Pete was so overjoyed. This girl loved Pete the most. Once this girl carved him, she placed him on her porch. That evening, she saw all of the neighbors on her lawn. Hoping they weren’t making fun of Pete, she ran out. Then, she realized what they were all staring at. It was a light brighter than any she had ever seen, shining from within Pete, without even one candle. It was a light that shown from within. Then, people came from far and wide to see this bright, little pumpkin. Just imagine what the world would have missed if Pete were simply thrown away. Even though people may look different on the outside, true beauty comes from within.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

2010-07-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Everyone,

We are on Friday while your still on Thursday! Our Friday will last 32 hours! WOW!

We are getting ready to leave our apartment for home, the great U.S. of A! Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. He is, was and will be Lord of this trip and our lives! I have seen Him go before and make this "experience" a magnificent one! When I stop and think about how many times, so many things could have gone differently, I stop and thank God for answering my prayer of going before us on this journey! I have seen His hand everywhere. Psalm 5 says:
"Give ear to my words, O LORD,

consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.
You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
hthe LORD abhors.
But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.
Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.
Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.
Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield."

He has done just that! I have at times been under sever spritual attacks, but have cried out to our God who saves, and He has protected me! I am so proud to be a man of God. He is the Rock on whom we can trust.

Well, I wanted to remind you as scripture says to. To remember the things the Lord has done, this is nothing short of a miracle, this whole trip, month, adoption, etc. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, it's time you do. For those that know Him, and are on shaky ground, CRY OUT TO THE LORD, He loves you and wants to be there for you to see you through anything. He is ALIVE, ACTIVE, and most of LOVING!

Just as 1 Corinthians 16:13 says "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong." That applies to all who believe! Come on now, fight the good fight with me, and as my favorite new saying says " Be Holy like Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, for the glory of God!"

I love you all with a Christ like love, we will see you soon Lord willing!

Toby and Toby Jr.

3 more days!

2010-07-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

I have to be quick because I have a flight to kiev that I have be up about 4:30am for.
We got our passports, too late for Ken, poor guy nothing has gone right for him. He did take a flight to Kiev this afternoon with Dennis. I will miss those guys!
We spent the rest of the day trying to see people and say goodbye. Like my pastry ladies, and I got my haircut from that great barber shop! Just crazy to think they only charge $3 US for the great job they do cutting hair! I will miss that!
I grabbed my kids one little gift, and then we went back and forth to the passport place.
Finally at 3pm they gave them to us.
I spent the day riding with Aleem. Anyone coming to Simferopole please let me know. I will put you in contact with him. He is a great kid, and he speaks great English. He has invited me back for his wedding next year! I get to meet his fiance in the morning!

So weird to think this is my last night here. I will be lost again in Kiev, but I will be bringing Dave with me so I will be fine. I will have to stop by the market of my favorite people up there. It will be nice to have Dave to translate.
Ok, I have packed everything, and it looks like I should be good to go. I have to bathe my son in the morning and feed that belly! Nadia is so cool she will come with food for him in the morning! Thank you Lord for a great sister in Christ!

Now I need to go to bed, and hope my wife or kids saw my message to Skype me before 5 am tomorrow. Also I hope I get up real fast and get moving!

I will try to communicate tomorrow night! I might be staying with another couple! That will be great!
Dobre Noche
Toby

Answers to comments:

The Fritzes are in Kiev now. They hope to leave tomorrow. Try to contact them.
Yes sir James, can't wait to meet you guys!

Today we are brought you by the number 4...

2010-07-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hello again everyone!

One big prayer request is that I get the passport tomorrow, Tuesday, and I get the Visa done before Friday so we can be on a plane home on then.
We are only 4 days away from home, Lord willing.
TodayI was reading in Chronicles about how the Lord wiped away the Philistines because He went before David and his army. After the Lord did this, David declared just that! It was an encouragement to me, because lately I have been in more contact with the world, and have held back my zeal for the Lord, so as not to offend. The Spirit has been working on my heart ever since, and todays reading was the icing on the cake. No more "worrying" about offending the world, now I am going to start worrying about defending those people from hell with the Good News! Always speaking the Truth in Love.
Our God, and Savior Jesus Christ has brought me half way across the world to blow His people's socks off with the amazing power He has shown in giving us Toby Jr. NO WAY will I back down to tell of His goodness! Be praying for me and my son. May people see our good deeds and glorify our Father in Heaven!

Ok, if you have ever wonder what he looks like while sleeping in the middle of the night here you go:

Today was a day where I mopped the floors here, cleaned all the dishes, and got the place half way ready for my new roommates, Ken and Dennis Fritz.

We had a good bath before they came. Do you like how I styled his hair today?I thought he looked cool!

This morning I tried making him oat, oat meal and he liked the first 2 bites then started spitting it out. I did not realize it had no flavor, so I grabbed my strawberry jelly and mixed it in. He still refused it. So we should not buy oatmeal for him. Then after I failed, we went to see Nadia. She made him so food of course and he ate it.

With a full belly and a new diaper it was time to head to the market and see what was happening there. He also just wanted to ride the bus! We ended up at Cafe Anepto where the good pizza is.

Poor Ken has not eaten since yesterday. We got him a large "pepperoni" salami pizza. He did eat the whole thing without even sharing with this kitten:

(these are for you EmmaLee)

They literally crawl out of the woodwork here. Bob Barker would be having a canary (and then spay it of course!) :0)

Well we walked around town, and then we came back on the bus. Did I tell you he loves riding in automobiles? Then we got some wipes, milk, and yogurt. We walked home, and hung out with the Fritzes.

My son has finally stopped fighting the sleep calling him and is snoaring over here. What a good day, and we can't wait for tomorrow!

Have a great night everyone, and please pray for us!

Toby @ Toby Jr.

5 days to home!

2010-07-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

What a rough night, I got sick, and then all day until about 4pm my boy kept throwing up. I think we ate some bad rice at the bizarre yesterday. How nerve racking? I gave it up to God, and after his 3 1/2 minute nap, he was a ok! (I praise you, Lord!) So he wanted to get out and take a stroll in the stroller and do his favorite, ride the bus! Without him throwing up I felt comfortable doing so.

We went to my favorite restaurant here. It is called Creedo, I got my usual and my son some mashed potatoes. I got approached by a Ukrainian who lives in Sacramento, who wanted to know what was wrong with my son. For the first time in my life, I did not know what to say.The waiter took our picture sideways sorry! Actually we have figured out how to defy gravity! :0)

Well, we had a good dinner and we both kept it down! Yeah! So we walked about 2-3 miles to our old apartment to see that old lady we talked about before. On the way I stopped and bought him a balloon. He loves balloons.

What a great reception for Misha-TobyNotice she is holding him! She did a whole lot more like kiss, play, walk and dance with him! She also gave him presents!

Hey there's that beautiful american boy! :0)

This one is for you pastor Mike, this was him after he grabbed and yanked the cats tail!Dog LOVER!

Well we wore this great lady out, and we went to see Ken Fritz. He was doing great, and people please pray that the rest of the process goes smoothly for them!

Well my son fell asleep for about 2 minutes on our way to the McDonald's here. We just got the picture.

Then off to home on the machinka's (busses). I know you can't tell but he loves this!

Then we stopped by that shooting range.

Are you as scared as I am by this picture? :0) Ladies shoot here, it is amazing. They pick up the weapons and use them like they are best friends.

Well we came home and listened to My Bridge Radio online, while we waited for Mama, and sisters on Skype. They called but he was sleeping!

Shhh... don't wake him!

Well have a great night everyone!

We miss you!

6 days left

2010-07-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Well today my son and I got up showered, and ventured off to the biggest bizarre here. I thought my wife and I walked through it before, but my goodness is it a lot bigger than we had seen. I did not even see it all today, but I was able to find a little present for my brother in law's wedding that we missed while here. I hope he will like it, because I have been searching for something unique for them while I have been here.
No pictures today everyone, I kind of had my hands full with a diaper bag, Misha-Toby and a stroller. I feel for all you single moms and dads out there! Now especially trying to take the public bus transportation with all that! Two Ukrainians were nice. Most of them are freaked out/prejudice about his down syndrome. It was really hard last night, we went to the chicken restaurant and the kind waitress was kind from a distance this time. Misha-Toby reached out to be held by her and she held her arms out straight and pushed him back to me. Same with the other waitress. Oh well, I am sure there will be plenty of real nice American ladies that can't wait to hold him! I got the same treatment through out the whole bizarre trip today. I was just really sad for these people. They have no idea what they are missing out on. He is a bundle of joy and laughter! He absolutely LOVES automobiles, especially riding in them. It was awesome to see, he actually fell asleep in my arms on the bus ride home. Only for a few minutes because when I went to get off, he awoke.
We made it home, and then Skyped Momma, and his big sisters. After that I went to the market to meet Nadia so I could buy some spaghetti, and have her show me what butter is, and good cheese. She is just great, she told me she has it all, and wants to make it! We followed her home then and of course she spoils my son with food. Imagine the biggest cereal bowl that you have in your kitchen she literally filled this thing to the brim with a rice and milk mixture for him. I tried only feeding him about 1/4 of it, but Nadia would not stop. What a great lady, she just loves my son! He did end up eating it all! Get ready Hon, he can eat more than me! (not that we will allow him too!) Then we came home after she stuffed me with spaghetti, sausage, salad, and bread. Then she was offering me more spaghetti! I was like NO WAY! I don't know what we are going to do once we leave Simferopole on Wednesday and stay in Kiev. My son is going to think I am starving him! Well tonight, Mini-me has fallen asleep right next to me so quickly! What a gift, thank you my Papa in heaven!
Well, I will hope to get some more pictures tomorrow. Until then please keep the rest of this trip and its details in your prayers, and thanks for commenting everyone!

Toby, and Toby Jr.

Thank you Jesus!

2010-07-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I am a day behind on the blog. Please forgive me as being a single father here is quite unusual.
Well, last time we spoke Misha-Toby as I am calling him now was fast asleep as a free boy. What an interesting night of sleep that was for me. Remember the bed is about 2 ft short for me? Well now with my son rolling like a rolling pin all night it has now shrunk by two feet the other direction. Then on top of me being nervous about him rolling off, waking up and not knowing where he is, suffocation, anything and I would say I slept about 2 hours total! What can I say? I felt like I was sleeping with one of my babie girls when they were infants. I was always so scared I would roll on top of them or something while I was sleeping. Thank the Lord for cribs, pack n plays etc! I probably would not of survived without them. But here, when he woke up and just started playing by himself, and then looking at me with his great BIG smile, I woke up easily! That's why I titled this Thank you Jesus, because by His grace we have laid down our lives to save Mini-me's and I cannot tell you what it is like to see him smile at you! You will have to experience it first hand! You just wanna squeeze him!

Well the first day of freedom brought many things, like a shower with Johnson's baby soap! Boy did he smell good! We also were treated to home cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner by our land lady and son. They are Nadia, and Vitalic

Nadia is such a tremendous help!

Then we went to the ZOO with David, Davey, Nate, Breanna, and Timothy!

This Zoo is approximately the size of one our normal size public baseball/softball fields. It has lions, tigers, and bears oh my! It also has about 30 other animals in it. Just imagine how small this is for all these animals. These pictures you see of me are not shot while zooiming at all! Yes, I am that close. Scary, but cool at the same time!Then we went home. We were done with the Zoo in about a half hour. Mini-Me got to hang out with the kids. He loved it!

We went back for a lunch and an afternoon nap! Nadia watched him for me while I got to go the Metro with Ken Fritz. First, I had to help their oldest daughter Rox, get a translator to get her hair cut!This girl is so great she is keeping her hair to donate it back in America! I am very proud to know you ROXANNE! :0)I left before the hair do was done. Her parents say she loves it though. Guess what ladies, this cost 40 grievna to have her hair professionally cut and styled. That is $5 (US)

That is one thing I will miss about this place, what an awesome barber I have!

The day ended by lighting off some fireworks to celebrate the 4th late, and the adoption. Also, just to blow something up! YEE HAW! On the way back in from doing so this lady was running down the stairs franticly and she started rambling in Russian, I looked at her like "yo no comprendo". She started talking with Nadia and Vitalic, then she spoke perfect English. She was so frantic about the fireworks(which is totally legal and free to blow off at anytime here) She just moved here from Kiev with her husband and baby. I guess we were lighting them close to her sleeping babies window. I quickly apologized and next thing I know, I am invited to their home for a couple hours. Finally at 1:30 a.m. little Toby was falling asleep. I left and we went to bed. Today, was kind of a boring day, we just hung out all day. Then at dinner time we went to see the Fritzes at the good chicken restaurant. Ken and I went to the BB shooting range here. It is cool. I think I should make one of these for Kearney! I think it would be a big hit!

Ok, well I caught you up. One last thing, please be praying for my sons sleep and health. He threw up/spit up a lot today, and I am concerned. Only one week left till we are home! Can't wait! We will be in Kiev on the 14th, and leave of Friday for the USA. Please pray for this as well. My son would type but he is busy: What a great miracle! Everyone thank our Father in heaven!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus!

Toby

We're off to see the Wizard...

2010-07-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Everyone,

Can you say FREEDOM?

No more of this:

this:

or this:

Just plenty of this:

this:

and this:

All the hoops we had to jump though here was for this:

His orphanage freedom card:

We went around all day with the Fritzes, man I love these people! We finally made it to the Wizard But the wizard did not make us perform any great acts of courage, heart, or bravery. She showed us mercy instead! You would not of known it by the look on her face, but again two days in a row when our kind of paperwork was not supposed to be worked on, it was! Even Nichloai was sooo excited we were able to get the passports paperwork done! Thank you LORD!

Then we headed home, and my landlady Nadia was so nice and made Mini me some food.

Then he did this:His first time as a free man sleeping, at least the bed is longer than him! :0)

Well, I have to go get him from his nap today and then I might blog about today.

Everyone praise God, because this was done only through His grace!

Toby

Independance day... or so I thought!

2010-07-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, yes I know Independence is on the 4th of July and a movie with Will Smith, but today was Toby Lee McDonald (Jr) independence day! That is what I thought when I woke up, got his clothes, bottles, and our bag cooler with juice and spring water ready! I had arranged for my friend Aleem to be our driver today to Kerg and the courthouse first thing this morning. I went into court and got the paperwork rolling myself since I was there at 8:50 am and no one else was. I had it all handle then a translator showed up about 9:20 with no phone call about being late for our 9 am meeting at the courthouse. I actually did not need any assistance as the kind ladies there helped me out. I waited for the documents that show I am officially his guardian, and they handed them to me (since my translator was no where to be found.), and I walked out the door ready to go get my son. As I am telling my friend/driver Aleem let's go get him for the ride to Kerg, Nicholai says we shouldn't. I told him that was too bad, I am getting him. Then he called the translator and she told me that the paperwork would take about 2 hours to do, and we need to get to Kerg to get his birth certificate changed so we can get his passport done. Well, you can imagine my shock at this, as I had not been told about this "hiccup" until now. I very reluctantly agreed to get on the road since Kerg is over 200km away. We finally got there, and my goodness this city is clean!

Actually according to Aleem, this is the cleanest, nicest city in the Crimean country. It is right on the Black Sea. It was beautiful. The trip there took about 3 + hours and it was hot with no a/c. In retrospect, I think it was wise not to have taken my son on his first day of freedom onto such a long ride! Come to find out, after we traveled sooo far, today was not the day they process changes on birth certificates, but Nicholai asked her nicely and she did it! Thank you Lord! She also said we would have to wait till 5 to get them, but I said "aww man". I think she understood the tone of my voice because right after that she said it would only be about an hour or so! Yippee!

During that time I found some real cheap fireworks! Praise God, I can have a late 4th celebration! I spent 12 dollars and got a whole bunch! (I was able to have my 4th celebration with the Fritzes later!) Though I was presented with his new birth certificate & he is actually a free man today.

We got back too late to get him out of the orphanage!BUMMER!!! I did not even get to see him today! Tomorrow will be the day, unless the Lord comes first!

Sorry to disappoint you all!

Toby

The Final Visit!

2010-07-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I hope you had a great day celebrating our independence! It really is awesome to be so free like we are. Also, believe it or not, I am so thankful for the governement we have that our forefathers established. The stories I hear from different people I meet on the street here make me so appreciative of our Big Brother! It is 10x better than the BB they have here (at least from what I am told). Anyways, just thought I would share my reflection on our freedom!

What a day today was. I had a good visit in the morning with my boy, and so we only had this last afternoon visit, then tomorrow he is mine!

Fun with pictures! Just think future dads this could be you with your child! He is really starting to get the hang of this walking thing.

We did have to have some nose to nose conversations like my friends Cray and Brayden do, but they don't last long and he is back to being a hiroshy malcheek(my best phonetic interpretation). The visit always ends when he is eating, he is happiest then! So I went to the market and found this food for my lunch today! It's a yummy chicken pineapple kabob, and chicken plov. This whole meal cost me less than 3 U.S dollars cooked already! Can you say "Value Meal"?

My land lady, gave me this jar of mystery food, and had me try some right in front of her! Thank you Lord, it tasted ok! Did you ever get offered something to eat, and you were so scared to eat it because it looked so different? Well, that was exactly the case for me. It was sweet tasting and come to find out later that they are jellied figs! I had never eaten a fig before!

I installed the shower!

I went to the market and bought the hose and the new holder! It was so easy to fix and looks great! Now I can take an actually shower I cannot wait!

Time flew so fast it was time to head back to the orphanage! It was so cool that kid Aleem I was talking about happened to be driving in my neighborhood with his mom, aunt, and cousin. He gave me a ride to the orphanage for free. I found out his religion is Muslim, and he does not follow it. I then gave him the gospel message. He seemed to be very receptive. Pray for his salvation!

Now comes the final visit.

We just had a blast today inside rolling around on the floor and chasing after each other on the carpet. He kept trying to get real close to the camera. I was trying to get his smiling face.Got it!

We went on the final walk around the play ground, oh I cannot believe it. I feel so excited for tomorrow.

Then it was time to say my last goodbye! I always try to leave when he is eating! He handles it much better that way!

Man, this is weird. I have some picture of Zhenya on my phone again!

How does that happen?The sad part is this may be the last time this could happen on my camera!

Answering the comments!

Well I see two of my 3 best friends in the world finally decided to start reading my blog over the past two days! Did I mention they are my best friends? Nothing like their support! NOT! Seriously though thanks guys for finally tuning in and leaving comments!

Jodi, your hilarious! Not! :0)

Jill, very awesome family you have to do that! God will bless you!

Mom, I cannot believe you read it. I hope you like it. Have you read all of them? Check them out, and have Jared do the same. I love you Mom!

Thanks all the rest of you for the support you give through prayers and comments. It really does make a difference for me!

Pray for my trip to Kierg tomorrow and that the paperwork goes smoothly!

Got to go to bed!

Toby

REMEMBER!

2010-07-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

First off Happy 4th of July Everyone! Thank you to all those that are serving, have served and will serve to protect our country! I am so thankful for you all!

Talk about a night and day difference! I thank all of you commenters for your support and prayers! I don't know what happened but today was just awesome! Is our God awesome of what?

It began with me waking up to a very sweet message from the love of my life! I am telling you guys I have the best woman in the world! Hon, you ROCK!

Then I got up and went to church today, we had church in the woods. Let me tell you something, we all as Christians in America need to get out of our "comfortable" seats or pews every once in a while to take time to remember how it was for most of our forefathers, and most of our missionaries to have "church"(just out in some field in the woods) then let's hear the complaints about the style of worship, air conditioning, or type of chair we sit in, etc. NOT! That was one of Pastor Bob's points in his sermon today and there were more! God showed me today how AWESOME He is, and I want to apologize to anyone about my lack of enthusiasm yesterday. I was just being truthful with my feelings in yesterdays blog. Our God has blessed me so much here, and I need to keep my heart guarded and take every thought captive for the glory of God! After all, what God set in my heart in doing this adoption was above all that YOU may know Him, and just bring Him glory! Like Pastor Bob said today, if this adoption falls through, will He stop being God? NO WAY! He is my Rock. Psalm 103 1-5 says "1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." That is exactly what happened to me today! He totally renewed my heart!

Feeling tired this morning, not feeling like getting up and going to church? Well check out this young ladies dedication to coming to church in the woods. Mind you, she went through the paths you saw in the pictures above. Her spine is totally soft from some disease, and so they had to create this wheel chair/bed for her to get anywhere, because she literally cannot sit up or anything, but her family was dedicated to get her here to see her sister be baptized. Another humbling thought for us American "comfort" Christians. So just after these two experiences alone, I was like "what am I doing complaining?". See how quickly I forgot what a miracle our God performed to even get me here! I guess it goes to show that I am a work in progress still!

They baptized 9 members of their church today!

Here is Pastor Bob, by the way! He reminds me sooo much of Mr.Spitale, he even tried to crack a joke today in the same story fashion!

Then we all had lunch together, they made a beef, rice, carrots, & chick pea dish out of this one bowl in the middle of the forest. It was good! Then I got to meet Misha, this converted Muslim to Chrisitainity!

What a great man(he's on the right), and he speaks great English. His wife Tamara is a very sweet woman as well!

I hope he and I get together more, because I would love to learn more about Islam, and the Koran to be a better equipped man of God! I would also love to help him in his radio ministry.

After church was over the young translating ladies, and Igor invited me along for the day with them! Is our GOD AWESOME or what? We went for a walk through some parks, and here is a real life sundial. Can anyone tell me what time it is with this clock facing north?

We also went on the bumper cars, and we tried our shooting skills at one of those target shooting carnival deals. I was not sitting around today. What a difference a day makes hugh? Then it was time for me to go see my son! Talk about joy!

We had such a great afternoon together! I was goofing off so much with him it was great.

Look Mama, only one hand!
Then we went inside, and guess what they did? They left me alone in the room with Misha and Zhenya!

Yeah, Zhenya's future parents you owe me one! Just kidding!

See that stack of chairs. He literally lifted it up all himself with his arms! Then after weightlifting, what do we guys want to do? Eat!

Well Happy 4th of July everyone! To top it off, on my way home from the orphanage, Igor and the girls spotted me walking and we sat down and hung out till it was almost 8 oclock! Thank you, thank you, thank you Lord, for blessing me the ways you do! Praise His name everyone!

Well I am going for a walk to get some of that yummy chicken now! It's 10 pm and maybe someone will blow off some fireworks. Wouldn't that be unbelievable?

Can't wait for your comments, Toby!

The good, the bad, and the ugly

2010-07-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Well I almost did not post for today, but I am soooo bored I need to do something! That's why your comments are sooo important. I feel like I am on the moon here with little contact with Earth!

The Good: I got up and got to the orphanage earlier than I have all week, and I had a good visit with Toby Jr. I think he was not feeling good because he kept burping, spit up some, and was just cranky! They actually dressed him in boys clothes that match! I was shocked! I met this young man named Ameel that works at the orphanage, and he has a car. Future parents coming to Ulatchka, you should contact him when you are here and see if he can be a "driver" for you. He is not out to get rich, and he is a very good kid so far that does speak half way decent English. He charges me 2 grievna for every kilometer! That is way cheaper than our orignal driver, and he speaks English! I actually had him pick me up for supper tonight and he showed me around a little. It was good, and I am planning on next Sat to go with him and his girlfriend to the Sea with Toby Jr.
The Bad: I came home from my morning visit and did a couple things and layed down for a nap. This nap was 4 hours long and I missed my second visit! Ohhh man! I am very frustrated with myself. I think I really needed the sleep though. Now I am up and I should be going to bed, but cannot! ARGH! I am so bored, my internet connection is to slow to watch anything online, the movies I have are not appealing, and no one here is up so that I can even try to talk with them. Also, everyone at home I am sure is getting ready for the 4th and I probably won't get many comments because of it. Fireworks here are few and far between, and so far I have only seen the more expensive fountains, nothing small and fun to mess around with! I miss this time with you all!
The Ugly: Just my heart attitude right now. I feel just very sad and lonely right now. I will get over it, but I think missing my visit today compounded things. I hate messing up and it eats at me!

Here is what I had to eat for lunch today:

Just kidding there is no Chinese food here! :0)

I actually took this picture for my EmmaLee to see! I got to meet these guys on the way to the orphanage today.

Here is Toby Jr's, and Zhenya's lunch though:

Whomever Zhenyas parents are, I want you to know I do run my fingers through his hair and tell him mommy and daddy are on the way!

Ok, well I am going to watch some movie and hopefully fall asleep now! Only 3 days left till he is ours! Then hopefully a little more than week from there and I will be home with you guys!

Answers to comments:

Jodi, cool to hear thanks for the comment

Julia, Yeah 12 is definately old enough to endure this trip. He may have discomfort, but it will help him become a man!

James, that would be awesome, we are just up in Nebraska! I hope to run into Alec, but I have not so far. I hope I do get to meet you guys in person! I am fixing the shower tomorrow so it should be good for you if you decide to stay here. There are two other couches to sleep on.

Debby: What is so cool is we are from NH originally as well. We used to live in Nashua till we moved to Nebraska 6 years ago. I grew up in Massachusetts! We are New England natives!

Stephanie: This blog was for you, I really did not want to today, but I did not want to disappoint you and others that do read this. Thanks for your comment!

Monica: Thanks for clarifying. It may not be the season for you guys yet. God will have you both ready when it is.

The Ripps: Great to see someone else I know personally following along! Tell Chad I said Hi!

Thanks Cristina, Ukraine, Gaining, and all the others that commented. I thank you for your wisdom on his skin too! I think you maybe right. I had my laundry washed with Russina detergent once, and now I bought Tide. So we will see!

Have a good night everyone and I look forward to your comments!

Toby

I only have 4 days left till he is all mine!

2010-07-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Even if it is brief, if you read this blog please post a comment, and thank you to those consistent readers and commenters!

Today, was a good day, but I have to admit I woke up sad. I was so looking forward to talking on Skype with my family last night, and they never called. Oh well, life goes on.
I almost slept through the whole night last night, that felt good. Well, I woke up to Ground Hogs Day all over again. Or if you have ever seen National Lampoons European Vacation and The Griswolds are stuck going round and round in that rotary in London, and Clark says "Parlament, Big Ben", well that's what my days are like. I was totally reminded that though I still have almost 2 weeks left here, I only have to wait until Tuesday for me and my boy to be hanging at my crib full time! That was a very nice reminder. Also, I found out on that same day I will have High Speed Internet installed, yeah! Maybe then I could even include a short video on here! Please don't take my attitude as negative. I came here for one purpose that God be glorified in my life, and if this loneliness is part of that lesson then trust me I am being as upbeat as I can, but I simply being very frank with my comments. (That's who I am)

Well, Toby Jr, has been breaking out with these pimples on his cheeks. I think it may be from contact with me, but I am not sure. Any demerotologists reading this? Can you explain? Here is a couple pictures:

He is really started to try to conmmunicate the best he can what he wants. I hope he will be quick to learn English, I know he will be he is very quick to learn a lot. I have taught him a couple days ago, how when I touch his nose and go "beep, beep" he can touch my nose and I make a low pitch honk sound. It cracks him up! He has also learned the different beats of music. He know which ones we slow dance too, and which ones we get our groove on with! It is a sight to see.

Oh, I did buy some of that crazy glue type stuff and fixed my sandals. I also may have fixed the shower so that the hose does not crimp any more. Nothing like feeling your being pee'd on in the shower. :0)

I got a picture of that very sweet nurse I told you would miss her "friends". If anyone is looking for a real nanny/housekeeper in America let me know. She wants to come to America and do that. From what I have seen she would be great!

Boys and their toys, check this out he absolutely loves automobiles. The world stops every time he hears a vehicle driving.

I thought this picture was great, it has some much to say. From my perspective, I don't know how many times, I have prayed for an earthly father to do this with. To know I have a dad to depend on and just walk with me through life here, and to call my own. Don't get me wrong I was blessed to have some great suedo fathers in the faith and a fantastic father in law, but not I could call my own, or really have the full priveledges of a son. I have since, known our Father's love in this way, and I have to say I am a totally blessed son of his. Like I told my wife while she was here, "I know lots of people who have dads that buy them this or that, and take them places etc, but how cool is it that my DAD, gave me this miracle to be here and adopt our son." Thank you my Saviour!

Well, we tried Skyping my wife and kids again while at the orphanage. No answer. Bummer! I took him to eat his dinner with his buddy Zhenya.

I had time in God's Word at the park today and I sat next to this very kind old woman and I found out through my friend David (over the phone) that her name is Elaina. She was trying to tell me about her Bible, and took a hold of mine and smiled. It was awesome. Man o Man, I wish I spoke Russian. I know I would of been blessed to get to know her more!

Well for those who care this is what I had to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner today, along with that totally awesome chicken kabob!

Be praying for me and that I honor our God with my life here, and I guess in turn back there.

I heard last week I think, that Nina Villeau (sorry if I missed spelled your last name) lost her dad. Nina and Tim sorry for being late on this God just put you on my heart. I just want you to know my heart breaks with yours and I wish I could be their to weep with you and hug ya! ( I know Tim, just a manly handshake for you. :0) )

Answering the comments time:
Julia: Honestly, I don't know how old your son is, or if you can, but if he is that sensitive to motion sickness and heat you may want to think of leaving him home with family and friends. I know that would be tough, but to have a child be here and by the sounds of it, miserable, it could be a real rough trip for you all! Just my adivce, I would hate to torment my son like that! Even in taxi's your not guaranteed AC, and the taxi rides can be just like theme park rides.
Kelly Selkirk- thanks for your encouragement!
Monica Culver: When the Lord leads, nothing can stop it. Sounds like God is saying "not yet" possibly. I would encourage your husband to not fear anything but God! If he feels the tug on his heart and is afraid of how the kid might look or respond tell him to look with you at the pictures on the RR site. Then tell him, if he does not think the child will respond, tell him I have met over 15 kids with severe disabilities here and everyone responds to my touch with a silent (and sometimes not so silent) cry for more! I would be glad to encourage him via email if he/you would like.
Jill: really you probably should get in touch with Jolene Sloan. She is a missionary here with a heart for the orphans. I would say, if you bring anything you don't know where it may end up. Develop a relationship with a nurse or two and they will be glad to tell you what they could use specifically in that room. I know they have already had me going for things. Plus things are cheaper over here, and that way you don't have to travel with it. Do yourself a favor and learn Russian if you are coming to Simferopol. It is worth those $50 - $100 discs if they actually work to teach you a language quickly.

Ok everyone got to go, my wife and friend have actually skyped me, so I have to call them back!

Toby

Take me to your Leader!

2010-07-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

Today, I got up right when my alarm went off and was out the door in a good time and I got on bus 17, another name for it could be "the sweat locker". Ok, it is smaller than a mini bus and shorter as well. I could not stand up in it. I originally had a seat next to the window I opened, but ladies and children kept coming on so I always give up my seat for them like I was taught! With little room for me, I had to head to the back of the bus. Boy, if you get anxious from being in small places then I suggest never get on these smaller busses. With the bus jam packed they closed the only window! AHHHHHHHHH! As the temperature started rising rapidly and no one blinking an eye, I used all my hands and English to say "open that window!" Oh my goodness, I could not believe how these people love the stagnant heat air! Then I realized I was too tall to see out the bus windows to tell where I was going (because I had never taken this bus before). Then with my hands and best Russian I could (while squatting to see out the windows) I was trying to ask 3 different nice ladies if this bus would take me to the orphanage. After my game of charades, they figured out what I was talking about! YEAH! (for future parents our orphanage name phonetically is: your lah chka) I have been saying Ulatchka and people look at me with the deer in the headlights stare! Once I got my destination down, a lady told me she would show me. Very nice. Then after I got a seat when the bus cleared out, I got to see the rest of Simferopol on this bus! Oh man, I was on that bus for close to an hour! There goes my good job getting up and going, just flush that down the toilet! Earlier in the morning I was able to load the Newsboys "Take me to your Leader" album on my phone. So on my 1/2 mile walk that song started to play and it just made me start to smile. Because the chorus goes " they don't know why we care, they don't what's out there, they don't how it's done, let's take them to our Leader son..." I thought how appropriate as I am walking towards this place that those words would come up. That's exactly their attitude, and that is exactly God's call on my life walking into that place. Isn't Jesus Christ, our God awesome?

I may be biased but isn't this guy just really cute?

Whoa, I just looked around here at this place I am writing this blog and I swear Mr. Brady from the Brady Bunch is sitting a couple tables over from me!

We had a great visit this morning, and this afternoon's visit was good too. Unfortunately, I walked into the orphanage and he was crying his eyes out, I asked "Why cry" (because they understand that) and (close your eyes Zhenya's parents), but she showed me that Zhenya was hitting him! I am sure it was not intential, so no worries! What was cool is I got to walk into the scene and save the day for him! That was special. We went outside and I had him going down the slide today. He likes that, once the sweat from his rear gives him lube to actually slide!

I found out today that I might NOT be getting high speed internet here before I leave! It will still be installed though, no fear future parents.
Today I went with Dave and Davey to their summer "camp" grounds for the camp they put on for the deaf and hearing. Looks like a nice place. It was so nice to just be with brothers and the fact they speak English is really great too!
Well it is about 8:20 pm here and I am going to go.
I hope you guys saw my wife's post on here (Just scroll down). It is called "from the Other Side" I think. I know one lady saw it.
Please, Please leave comments! I truly look forward to them, and I know Suzanne would like it too!

Ok answer time to all your comments: Thank you very much for doing so!
Hellooooo my wonderful Bickmore family! I am so glad Amy passed it along, I hope Mr. B and you will read all the posts together and then comment. I know it may be a bit of reading, but he did always encourage me to write a book! :0)
See what our God can do, Mrs. B? Just tell that mountain move and it will be gone! Those seeds you guys planted are hopefully making you guys proud!
Gaining Grace: See my last comment above.
Julie: Unfortunately I have not seen her, I am very sorry!
Julia: I will be in Kiev on the 14th and quite possibly the 15 or 16th. I would be glad to meet up with you guys!
Have a great day everyone!
Paka, Paka!

Argh, even my son struggles with sin!

2010-06-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I am writing at 6:31 am CST which is 2:31pm here. Ok to answer some of the comments.
Julia: very close on the price, the gotcha day is July 6th, and I am going to Kiev hopefully on July 14th. I have made some of the blankets cushions in spots where the wood from the bed stick out so I am managing! It is funny because when I was homeless in my car, and when the church allowed me to stay there, I slept on the floor on a thin pad about 2 inches thick. So for me it is not a big deal!
Fritzes: Can't wait for you to be back and I will definately show you around! Just call me!
Aimee: Nothing to worry about, but I will email you
Yo, Huggy Bear( Dave, do you like the name? Just thought of it!) and family: It will be great to see everyone again. Huggy: Keep the prayers coming bro, yes it can be quite lonely....
Thanks to everyone else that commented! I am blown away by your support.

Oh yes the answer was 15 grn, see if you can figure out how much that is.... It is like $1.85. That is unbelievable for the way these flowers were all decked out! In the US, I probably would of to pay $50 or more!

This may be a two for 1 day on the blogging since I have not had my second visit. I may just wait and edit this one later. You'll know

So I was able to get up a little earlier today, and I may have actually figured out a way to have a pretty good shower. The faucet for the tub has one of those hoses with a shower attachment at the end(it does not have anything to hang from), each time I try using it higher than the tub the hose crimps and I lose a ton of pressure! I think I found the way around that today though! Yeah, it was almost a normal shower. Then off I went to the buses! The good thing about all this walking is, I think I am actually losing weight!
(Oh before I forget, all parents coming to Simferopole with a laptop, you really should invest in a very nice and comfortable laptop back pack that is the normal old school back pack size to carry drinks and other items! I cannot tell you how invaluable it has been. The one I have has wheels and an extendable handle for the airports! The brand I have is Targus )
Ok so the reason for my tangent is I carry the back pack with me and it is probably about 20 + lbs with everything in it, hopefully I am building muscle as well!

Well the reason for todays title was that I experienced a full blown tantrum from my son today, and it made me sad to have to "understandingly" tell him no in an aggressive way. He actually started to cry. I could not believe it. He came to hug me though right away and I did the best I could I to love him through it. What happened was I had him on my lap and was just making his bottle and he tried to rip the bottle and the juice box out of my hand and was screaming at the same time! I was shocked.(yes this was different from his others) I think, he does not like straws at all, and he was mad I was putting one in his bottle to transfer the juice from the juice box. He came to me looking for comfort though, so it was cool afterwards.

He also drank that bottle like there was no tomorrow! Then we got out a balloon and played with the "normal" kids for a while. One of them was so physcially aggressive I had to tell him no a bunch. That was scary to see the aggression in this 3-5 year old. His parents are going to have their hands full!

Boy does he and the other kids love these balloons. It's really no surprise since balloons are AWESOME!

Quite a different outfit today.

One of the nurses has written me a note for the pharmacy here to get what looks like 4 different things because they think the pimples on his cheek and his snotty nose is a problem I guess this medicine can fix. So I need to go soon to get that before my next visit.

They allowed me to stay for his lunch again. I actually was the one watching and feeding him. It was good to be able to do that! (Oh yeah other future parents bring regular teaspoons with ya, and see if they will allow you to switch. They give them full size tablespoons to eat with, and they are waaay to big)

So I left and headed into town, on the 99 bus, but before that I stopped by and got a picture of those bakery ladies!Mmmmm all those pastries made daily if not hourly!

Then I went to that place I got the "stinky feet" spaghetti and walked in and my American friends were in there with their VBS group eating! How cool was that! That's where I got this pizza. Sorry I ate a slice before remembering the photo!

Ok really got to go now. I will finish this day later!

Ok it is later now, and my second visit was awesome! We had such a great time together again!
I had to go on the "Great medicine journey" that I have heard all the parents go on. He is supposedly sick and needed 4 medicines. I originally thought, this is just a con, but then I thought whoopdie doo if it was. If they are in need of some medicine for other children, then what am I gonna do wait for their parents to buy it? NOT! (remember their orphans, that was the joke!) So I saw her actually spray some medicine in my sons mouth and he did alright taking it! Then we went outside to dance, laugh, and try to call Mama(no answer)! Today I showed him her picture on my phone, and he thought she was on Skype and was trying to touch her. It was neat to see! I was able to feed him, and bring him to the back room to was his face. They just take running water and splash them with it! He did great! Then I wiped him dry, and they changed him and I got to put him in his crib for the night! YAHOO! I tell you what some of these nurses are great!

Oh wait how did this picture of Zhenya get on my camera? ;0)

Then I started my trek to the bus! I tried to make it to church that was in English tonight and I failed! BUMMER! I did get to meet Rollin who is their Youth Pastor from America! He seems cool! Then pastor Bob and I go to joke a little and I left for the busses again! I ate that awesome chicken kabob again tonight, and at the restaurant there seemed to be this celebration with a large group that started dancing, it was touching to see them dance in their native dance! I tried ordering again with no interpreter, and I felt like Chris Farley when he was on that Japanse Game Show skit with Mike Meyers! I almost started laughing out loud when I thought about it! Anyways they brought me this bottle that had the most zesty, flavorful, clear sauce I have ever tasted. It was kind of like Italian dressing on steroids! Oh, it was so good with that nice fresh Syrian bread! MMMMMM.

Great News Everyone, I am going to get HIGH SPEED INTERNET installed here in my apartment, with Russian cable TV! Thank you LORD!!!!

Right now my internet is slower than dial up! So to all those parents coming after me, this apartment is the one to get!

Well I am done for the day, I hopefully will get to talk to my beautiful bride and then go to sleep. Funny my girls don't seem to miss me now that Mom is home! Don't worry, I knew that would be the case. They are all mama's girls!

Here are some more pics!
Don't forget to check out Suzanne's blog! She is contributing her own on this site! What a woman!

Toby

A view from "The Other Side". . .

2010-06-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
   This is Suzanne and I will apologize upfront for not being as entertaining as Toby. And...unfortunately I will not have the great pictures of our little man :(
   I figured that I would write from my perspective to all of you future adopting parents who will be heading home, and leaving your spouse, for the remainder of the adoption process. Although, I will remind you that EVERYONE'S experiences are different...this just happens to be mine.
    We went into our travels knowing that I would be coming home and Toby would be staying, but truthfully, nothing prepared me for the emotions of leaving Toby and Toby Jr. (TJ) behind. I have to admit that I was so excited to be heading back to the states, to the comfort of my home and into the loving arms of my 3 daughters, but my heart broke at having to leave my boys behind. At the airport in Simferopol, waiting for my plane back to Kiev, I began to cry uncontrollably. Emotions are heightened throughout the entire process, but our family was going to be incomplete for several weeks and this broke me. Thankfully, I was able to stay with another adopting American couple in Kiev, so my mind was occupied and the heaviness lifted for the rest of my stay in Ukraine (thank you John and Charissa).
   I had to get up at 3:45AM to head to the airport in Kiev for my flight out to Germany...to Chicago and back to Omaha, Nebraska!!! During the flights and especially during my layovers, my eyes welled up several times thinking back to the times I was able to spend with our new son. It was truly a gift from God. Only in the adoption process are you able to have so much one on one time bonding with a new child (unless it is your first born). This isn't even mentioning the time that Toby and I had ALONE together. Having 3 children, alone time is not a luxury anymore. I was sad not only because that precious time had come to an end, but also because I was unable to truly enjoy it. Looking back, I could see that I was so gripped with a spirit of fear, fear of man, that I couldn't allow myself to relax and enjoy this gift of time with my boys. The Lord was, and still is, working on me in this area. He is constantly reminding me of the verse in Proverbs 29:25 "The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be kept safe." Let me just clarify that my fear of man was totally around what they could or would do to hinder our adoption/ I was afraid that my husband's boldness would cause our facilitators to not want to help us...afraid that the nurses would not think we were fit parents...afraid that the judge would not grant us the adoption, etc. The Lord had to keep reminding me that He is Sovereign and ultimately our adoption was not in the hands of man, but it was in His Loving Hands.
Now that I am home, I wish I could say that that fear is gone. I do not think that I will be able to be completely free of it until my son is home in my arms!
   Coming back home, without your spouse and your child, is an emotional rollercoaster of it's own. I will save all that for another post.
    Again, I apologize for not being as amusing and comical as my AWESOME husband, whom I miss terribly, but I hope you got something out of it.
              In Him,
                Suzanne

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

2010-06-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

To all who commented:
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, for your comments. I look soooo forward to them! I am sorry Julia I wish I could update you as well! Johnson's you rock! Dave, surprise that woman of yours with something special, you know she deserves it!
James, I am glad to do anything I can for you guys! Just wait till you read further on!
Roxanne, do we know you?

Ok, to explain todays title. I am using the "idealogy" that these orphanages are horrible and the nurses are too. However, I think to accurate explain the situation at least at our orphanage, I would say these ladies are vastly misguided on disablities like their whole culture seems to be. I believe Misha (Mini-me) is starting to open their eyes to the potential they have. I think if we could educate them more, these nurses would be outstanding care givers. At least most of the ones I have come in contact with. I was talking to this very sweet nurse, that knows a little English, about Misha and Zhenya and I was asking if they were friends. The reason I said that was that I was thinking Zhenya will be said when I leave with Misha. Her response was "they are my friends and I will be sad when they go." I have come across so many nurses here that truly do care for these kids with disabilities. I am not being biased. I observe them and see how they do care. It is a real shame I don't speak Russian because I would love to share the gospel with them and also child care techniques. So to explain the title, I think some parents see them as the enemy, and I would encourage you to really show compassion to them and be yourself. I know RR says every parents experience is different and to some extent that is true. However, I started this journey here with the "fear" of this place and these people. After the first half day of trying to be someone I am not, I realized Christs call does not stop at the US border, but we are to be His light to all the world! So I would encourage you to let your Light shine! I cannot tell you how many times I have seen God open doors for me here because I have fearlessly decided to be His ambassador! Today, I had a lady at one of the stores I used to live by(over a week ago) just come up to me as I was standing outside her store for the first time in a week, and in her best English say Hello with a smile. I thought wow, she remembered for one, but for two how the Light penetrates the darkness! Now don't be nieve and foolish, but be wise and loving! I would encourage really the dads, but maybe the moms' to other ladies, but definitely not other men! I have seen the perversion clearly in the men here, and so I do want to caution you ladies that come. Since I could not keep this short, even if you don't like your nurses, the best rule of thumb here is to heed todays title with all the grace God gives you! After all, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them." Luke 6:32

All right, off my soap box.

Today I felt horrible again I was really late to get to him this morning. Partly for oversleeping and partly trying to make the trip faster by taking unknown buses and then having to wait for the correct ones! I felt like a real bad Papa! You know that saying it's not quantity but quality, it really applies here! He just lights up when he sees me! It is awesome. The other cool part is the nurses let me stay till almost 1 today. I got to see him eat, go potty on the potty, and I got to lay him in his crib for his afternoon nap! HOW AWESOME IS THAT? He was soo good, I just laid him in his crib, and said goodbye and he just laid there and went to sleep! That was really nice! So whomever Zhenyas parents are I hope you don't mind me posting this picture, but I can't resist!

They are two buddies trying to be boys! This picture does not do this moment justice! I was soo happy!

So I spent some more time with nurses and I had a teenage boy there to help almost interpret! It was cool! Then I left, I stopped by a shop and negotiated really well for a couple souveniers. I was proud of myself!

Then I got to spend the rest of my time with the Godwin's! God bless you guys as you head to Kiev tomorrow and I will be praying you make your flight home on Friday!

Then I went back and got some more Pampers from that man that got me the mosquitoe repelent. He again gave me some balloons for the kids at the orphanage! Talk about a good way to keep me coming back! Still he was very glad for me and was welcoming me a lot today! May God have mercy on him! I also stopped by my bakery ladies and had a great time showing them pictures of what they call in their best English "beautiful girls"! These ladies are soo sweet. I keep forgetting to snap their picture but I will! Man, nothing like hot and fresh pastries! There is this boy that I like giving a grievna to. His mom is one of the market ladies, and he is probably 8. It is just so cool to see a young man respect and work for his mom like he does. He keeps trying to tell me No, I keep throwing it on the ground, he even chased me today. But I told him, he is a good boy and buy some candy! He respected what I said. Oh some of these people I will miss! Well with my pampers I headed to the orphanage. It was raining again! So Misha and I spent some time inside, trying to Skype Mama, but she did not answer! Then we watched a little bit of Ice Age, and then we went outside because the rain stopped. We finally Skyped Mama, and I do believe it probably made her day. He definately recognized her and smiled at her a bunch. Time flew by and I had to bring him in. That nurse told me to sit with Misha, dinner was late. So guess what I got to do, whomever Zhenya's parents are? I asked to hold Zhenya and Mini-me at the same time. BOY O BOY did we have some fun and laughs!!!! He is sooooo ticklish! With his knee bent the front side if his knee cap is a Great spot, and the same with Misha! I just sat there ticking them for so long and holding them. Then I got up and danced with them both again. What a night! Thank you Lord! I also stayed for dinner which was a fish patty cut up and white rice. They love it! I could not believe it was fish! So I snapped this photo and I just happed to get Zhenya in it as well! Lucky me! ;0)

Then my day ended with him. I took the 99 bus back to the city and stopped at this place on the corner called the Chicken house. I think I spoke of this place before. I have met the owner or manager his name is Maltune? He is cool, and speaks some English. I had a cheeseburger and fries, it is good to be able to read the menu even if the English is as bad as mine! Here he is on the left.

So I will leave you with some more pictures again, I got to get home. I hope the bus is still going that way!

Toby

I gave these Roses to my land lady with my wife's permission, ok guess how much they cost. Maximize the photo to see the detail of the craftsmanship. Then leave your guess. I will answer tomorrow!

Have a great night everyone!

Monday, Monday,,,,

2010-06-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well it is really late here and I cannot believe I am awake.

I woke up really late today too! Weird, this whole time change thing is definitely strange to me and my sleep!

So I got up this morning and did a little bus hopping and made it to the orphanage! That is always an adventure! Oh wait I have to show you my new bathroom accessories!

Pretty awesome hugh? Hey before you make fun of me and the colors they are. I suggest you go and remove your seat and shower curtain for 1 day and then come back and tell me how bad they are! :0) Really the choices here went from bad to worse on the designs and colors so.... I have always liked dolphins since the tv show Flipper!

Ok so now that you had your laugh at my expense, let's move on.

I saw my son for only a little while this morning because I over slept. It made me sad, but I think in the long run it was good for me. I was getting drained I think, and it helped I hope. Then I went to this place that makes a good pizza and the lady that started today speaks great English! I was so relieved. I could actually order something I have not had before! Yeah for variety! So I ordered their spaghetti with chicken. When it came out, I thought the waitress had really bad body odor, but it turned out to be the food instead. Seriously, it stunk so bad I started smelling my hands and my arm pits. It was a relief it wasn't me. I am not kidding it literally stunk like really dirty feet! What to do, but eat it. It actually tasted good.

It was nice to have someone understand me besides poor David over here. Poor guy, I am trying more and more not to call him, but sometimes I just need someone to interpret! It was raining again here. It has rained I think everyday since last week. The rain does not last the whole day though. it is weird. So I went back to the orphange, and had a good time with my boy. He was very tired though. Yeah this picture sums it I think! Boy when he gets tired, watch out! He is like his Mom, ahahahahaa! Got you again Babe! Make that 3 times now! :0)

Man, I payed 120 grievna for some sandals to wear and I thought they were nice but think again. These cheap pieces of junk have not even lasted a week! Man I miss American rules because I would be returning these things in a heartbeat! Though I have walked more in these than I think I have ever done but still they are just cheap imitations. Frustrating, because I hate to have to wash socks!

Well I had special visitors to the orphanage. David and his wife, they got to see how cool Mini-me is and how cute Anya is! They also got to see Zhenya I think. For those of you who are going to be his parents, and for those not, I saw them potty training him today! It was so cool to see! He is very smart! I love to see him with Misha everyday. I feel kind of bad taking Misha because I know Zhenya will miss him! They eat and play together, it is special. Speaking of eating, I had that awesome chicken kabob and freshly cooked syrian bread with vegetables. The veggies could of been better, but the other stuff is really really good and soo cheap!

Well hopefully I will get some American television from my landlords kid tomorrow! We had some time together and I am trying to motivate him to be a MAN! He is kinda doing nothing with his life right now and he needs to be! Well until tomorrow everyone! I look forward to your comments. If you do leave one Anonymously please at least leave your name at the end of the comment!

Here is some other pictures from today

Paka Paka everyone!

Happy Sunday and it is real easy to leave comments now!

2010-06-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, rough night trying to sleep, I think Dopey can have his bed back! :0) Also, I think the rain was making a tap, tap, tap sound on the aluminum window sil that kept waking me up! It's ok, I needed to get up and get going! When I say I miss my family it is a MAJOR understatement!

Got up and went to see my boy again today! It was great, ( I know I say that a lot, but wait till you see him smile at you!) he and I laughed and laughed this morning! He likes it when I pick him way over my head then tilt him down until touch noses and foreheads! It is FANTASTIC!

I hope you like the pictures I try to do my best taking pictures of us by myself!
So after that visit I went and bought guess what????????
A toilet seat, shower curtain rod, and a shower curtain! YEAH!!!!! I also went home and the landlord's apartment has a washer so I brought my clothes there, and tried to get connected wirelessly. However it was searching for a certificate because I think his wireless router security settings are messed up. So I never got on that was frustrating because his wireless router was all in Russian and it was a Dlink so I had no idea what I was looking at! That made me late for church, well that probably didn't but the bus hopping to get there probably did! I made it though it was pretty cool that I could manage to bus hop and make it there with no help at all! David gave a great sermon on Mark 5 and the Legion demons! I also got to sing Trust and Obey that I have not sung since old PCF days! It was cool, to sing in English while they all sang in Russian!
Well I just got done eating at my favorite restaurant called Creedo in English. It is GOOD and CHEAP! I forgot to take a picture before I started. I will come again and show you. Tonights visit went quick. We skyped the Urbans and my family from the orphanage! Whomever is thinking of adopting Zenya, I must say he is doing great! I see him everyday and while I wait for Misha's Pamper to be changed, I go and caress his face and hands along with the other kids there! Boy o Boy there are some cuties there! Anyone looking to adopt a little girl with Downs would love this girl called Anya! Her smile is AMAZING! She is the cutest little girl too! Trust me when I say they are cute I mean it. You can ask my wife I don't throw those terms around about kids!
Well it is getting late and I need to install my toilet seat and shower stuff when I get home! I probably have to hang my laundry as well, so I better get going.

Please comment if you read this, it will do my spirit good!

Missing America, my friends, my little girls, and my FOXY, SEXY wife! (Ha Hon, I am too far away for you to get me for calling you that! :0) )

Have a great night everyone!

Toby

Wow, people are actually reading this

2010-06-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

Good Evening All,

I can't believe the response you guys gave to my blog, what an encouragement thank you!!!!

Well Saturday has come and gone, and so have my visits. I thought I was getting really fortunate today, because I spoke to one of the nurses that knows some English and she told me it was ok to take Toby with me to the market, come to find out as I left the orphanage with him and was about 1/4 mile down the street the poor ladie came running after us, scared you could see, and said she mis understood me and that I have to be with him at the orphanage! B-U-M-M-E-R! So we hung out, and did some walking, swinging (he LOVES it), hugging and laughing! He is hilarious. Check out his jacket and outfit today!

Then I left and met another Malaysian family I met on the bus the other day and they speak perfect English! They were so relieved to find out I did as well! It was awesome! Izwan is the fathers name and I don't remember the others. He also encouraged me to come to Malaysia and gave me his business card to look him up if I come. He is some VP for Resorts over there! Is God good or what?

I got to meet up with the Godwin's! We did a little shopping and then some eating!

It was great and they paid for me today that was sooo cool! Here is what we ate Greg had this mystery meat bowl! :0) Actually called "beef made the home way" I think. It was actually chicken wings in some broth, and with vegetables. Let's just say it's not making Greg's top 10 list! Megan had the the pyramid of rice and what they call Beef Stroganoff, she said it was good, then Mrs Godwin and I had crepes with chicken and cheese, I added a side dish of Chicken Julien (did not know what it was) The crepes came out ok, but they do not check the chicken for fatty parts and joints etc. So you could end up biting more than you can chew-literally! :0) The Julian is just cooked chicken with some cheese in a bowl. All in all, it was not great but better than others! It was just really nice catching up with the Godwins and enjoying their company.

Then I was off for my last visit today. I was tired! I got Mini-me right from his nap so it was cool, he was sooo happy to see me there. We sure did miss mama!

But me and my son (Wow can't believe I just said that! Isn't that awesome?) we got through the day having a good time on the slide and the swing and walking around together. He just loves to sit and hug me or sit on my lap and relax! Ah man, I don't deserve this. Thank you Jesus! Speaking of which, God started laying on my heart a message to be content. I started thinking about that and man o man how I can lose sight of things. Here I am in the Ukraine, totally by the grace of God, holding MY son and I am not content with being just on the orphanage grounds with him! What is my problem? I know it's that horible sinful nature in me warring to come out! Ah, to God be the glory for opening my heart to such things! I am so glad He holds me like I do my boy.

Well I am going to go and maybe walk about a 1/4 mile to see if a restaurant is open so I can eat something. Have a great night everyone!

Toby

Wow, do my legs hurt!

2010-06-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone, (Actually I only have recieved about 3 comments from people, so Hello all 3 of you!) :0)

It's Toby again!

Where to start... Wednesday Suzanne and I officially(until the 10 day wait-actually 13 July 6th) became parents of our darling little boy Toby Lee McDonald Jr.!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!
Everything went well, except me asking for the 10days to be removed,(come to find this out on Thursday) that the question should not even be asked! Oh well there goes the theory "it never hurts to ask" only in the place we are though! Anyways we could not tell that court had any downside as a matter of fact the judge liked us so much that she complimented our supporter there, told the state lady she should get more involved because she sees the cause, and she let us take a picture with her! What an outstanding time! This judge we admire a lot! She was great!
Thursday, we moved out of our apartment to a much more affordable one. So far we are saving over $1200 in housing and transportation costs! We are saying No to the "American Discount" Praise God, anything to make this money stretch further is AWESOME! Thursday was Suzanne's official last day here in Simferopole. Her last day to be with our boy and me for the next few weeks! Saddening, and joyful at the same time because she gets to go back to U.S. and be with our girls! Who I miss SOOOOOOOO much! So we moved out Thursday and into the new place, besides it not having hot water, a toilet seat, shower curtain or rod, and a bed straight out of Snow White and the 7 dwarfs, it is great!

Ok, so the hot water was turned on today, all the rest is the same but I am alone now so it is no big deal and I will pick up a toilet seat and shower stuff tomorrow and still save over $500 on rent alone!
The bed, well I think I broke it when got up last night. It is being supported by a glass bowl and the card board box that the fan came in! Hey like my friend Dave said it is a cultural experience!

So today is Friday and it is almost over. I left my beautiful bride at the airport early this morning! I am going to miss her, heck I already do! So then I spent the day walking it seems. I am trying to figure out where things are around here without having to bother the nice Christians here. Well that did not work out so well! I think I was lost for over an hour, and finally found this great pizza place that is dirt cheap and the food is AWESOME! They also have an American toilet with a seat! Ahhhhh! :0) Then you know how I was invited to that graduation today, well I never made it there and could not get in touch with Raj. I called him 15 times because he told me to go to one place but he meant another. Oh well Happy Graduation Raj!

Well then I got to be with Mini me!!! It went great! We had a ball together and he kissed the phone when I showed him pictures of Mama! Other than that it was let's have a blast together papa day! He cracks me up and I am sure he will to all you who get to meet him! He loves swings so it looks like I will need to get a swing for him!

All in all I think I walked a good 10 -15 miles today, but hey it all ended well! I got this food for dinner tonight. Not bad, but not great either!

Well off to to watch some movie and fall asleep as I await my daughters Skype calls! And if anyone of you want to Skype just look me up and the location is the city we live in Nebraska!

Have a good night and let me know you read this by leaving a short comment!

Toby

Wow, its Wednesday already!

2010-06-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

Thank you God, I get to have my beautiful bride with me a couple more days. Oh, how I will miss her! She is the otherside of me! But there's nothing like giving up your life for someone else! Girls mommy will be home soon!!!

Ok, Good Morning Everyone!

Oh how we miss you all, and the Freedom that God has brought to our country!

We got to go the Black Sea!! That was awesome, to see God in that part of this country and the people don't believe in Him, I just don't understand! It was like combining the great mountains of New Hampshire with the Cape all in one location! MAJESTIC!!! Oh how awesome our God is! I also was little crazy and grabbed this random rope and swang over the Black Sea, you should of seen the people starring it was hliarious!

Well we have had a great week so far with my little baby boy! He is learning so much, and boy does he like to dance! We have been able to see a whole bunch of really awesome kids in this orphanage, and if you think God is calling you to adopt, come and save some of these kids! They are so, so in need of families. Suzanne brought up a good point just now, the nurses at least in our room really do their "best". Can we teach them how to love, care and nurture them better? Sure but from what I have seen they are doing what they know to do. Hmmm food for thought for us Americans. How good do we have it?

I have been so blessed by God to be able to communicate with so many Ukranians. They take my body motions and we eventually understand each other. It was so awesome yesterday the nurses at the orphanage need some mosquitoe repelent and asked me to buy some. I eventually figured that out with some interpretation. So I went to the market down the street, and asked the lady that bakes us fresh strawberry tarts everyday, and I motioned to her what I was trying to do, and she left her market and walked with me to help me get this repelant from another marketer. WHO NEEDS ENGLISH OR RUSSIAN! I tried to pay her and she very firmly grabbed my arm and told me basically no way would she take any money, and then when I got done paying the man for the repelent, he gave me a bottle of bubbles for the kids! I left there praising God and tearing up at the same time, a joyful cry I call it! For you guys to understand, it seems like no one here does anything to help without looking for something, just like in America, but God has shown us much different. He has shown me and Suzanne sooo much favor here, it is unbelievable! Miracle upon miracle, day after day. We seek Him as much as we can and he has honored what He says when we do this. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you!" Matt 6:33

As I am writing this we are soon going to have our court to see if we can have Mini-Me! We are really hoping and praying that the 10 day waiting period will be waived, this would be another miraculous event. This has never been done here in this region and we are hoping it will be another testimony to God that this is done. So be praying, and thank you for the prayers! We have certainly seen our God intercede for us!

So what else have we been doing? Sleeping, riding the bus, watching Toby Jr take almost 7 steps today to his mom from my hands, it was really cool! We also have been becoming bus rider experts( not really, but it has been fun), Suzanne got her hair professionally "chunked" for a total of 100 grievna, which is about 12 dollars! She looks GOURGEOUS!!!! I didn't think she could get any better looking but she did! I met a Malaysian student in the barber shop while waiting for her, His name is Raj and he saved Suzanne from becoming a total blonde! We thought we asked for highlights, and the lady started to work on Suzanne's hair and Raj came in and spoke English(Russian, and Malaysian) so I asked him to make sure she is getting highlights, and thank God I did! He is graduating from college here on Friday and he wants me to come! I think it will be great. His parents will be here. He is not saved, but I have already planted the gospel seeds and He keeps wanting to be my friend so pray for Him! He studied to become a cardiologist. He can't wait to come to America sometime, and he wants us to come Malaysia! Well, I know this was long and there is so much more to tell, but I won't go on right now about it.

All the glory to God!

Toby

Happy Fathers Day to me, and to all you Faahhthers!

2010-06-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

We had a great day today! It started off with waking up to my wife having Father's Day cards for me from my girls, which I can't wait to open ( i have to wait for them on Skype). Then we told our driver to take the day off and we were going to try the bus. We found out the bus #99 goes right next to our orphanage, and it only costs 2 grievna($.25 US) each way to take. We figured out that this will save us several hundred dollars in taxi fair for the rest of the trip. It was great! It actually took us less time by bus than car! Sooo we are going to tell our driver Paka Paka (Bye Bye)! We figured out the bus system due to some great American/Ukranian friends here! So we even figured out how to get back to the center market. This place is a HUGE outdoor market! We had some more good Ukranian food right off the street! It was only 12grievna ($1.50) a plate and it was gooood! I will have to get pictures the next time! We also had them make some Ukranian Chicken wrap (grilled) which was really good as well! It was about the same cost! All of you future parents coming over, if you have a heart for people and courage to speak up for yourselves you can really make this trip easy on yourself! Just ask questions and don't be afraid to stand for what you want! Sorry don't know why I went on that tangent! Anyways, some of you know me and the hat I got from my deceased father in law that I love.(it's the one in the family pic on our blog.) Well I found another one here, and best of all I found an exact match for Toby Jr.! See the picture! What a GREAT find for my Fathers Day!!!! We also went to a Baptist church here and it was awesome! We have some video we can try to upload. They sang How Great Thou Art, Amazing Grace, and other oldies but goodies in Russian and we sang in English it was cool! Then we also got to our visit late and I asked the nurses if we could stay and feed him tonight and they were glad to have us! Check out Suzanne in the nurse gear they had her put on to feed him! Oh by the way Nance's we got to hang out with Zhenya while we fed Toby and he is AWESOME! I know he can't wait for you guys to come and love him!

Well I will wait to have a great Skype call with my girls and at some point go find some more great Ukranian food with my beautiful bride! As my new Italian friend Enrico says "Ciao, Ciao"!

Never hurts to ask....

2010-06-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone it is Toby again,

I thought I would write to you all about today. We went to the orphanage again and was getting our son and I asked a nurse there if it would be ok to take him on a walk to the market. (this is outside the orphanage) She said yes and to be careful! (This right there is another bona fide miracle!! People you have got to believe or keep believing that when God says it only takes mustard seed size faith to move mountains, that He means it!). So we took him OUT! It was awesome and if we had high speed internet you could see the video of him riding his first little merry go round! Maybe later! Praise God everyone!!! We then stopped by some ladies pastry shop and bought to hot & fresh homemade cherry danishes with sugar on top for only 6grievna(about $.85 US)! How good can our God get??? So we then went strolling through this outdoor market place and park! It is awesome, we then took him on that merry go round! We ended up buying him a brand new Ukranian boys outfit for 40 grievna(which is $5 US). Wait till you see it, it is European cheesy! :0) Suzanne the worrier she is could not relax and enjoy the time, fearing we would get in trouble, but me, I had a blast with our boy! Then we went home and started watching Greys Anatomy. So far it is ok, I thought it would be too raunchy, but that is not the case. (Thanks Andrea and Pichie) Then we went back to the orphanage and we have been showing off how much Mini-me is learning to walk and pound his chest and yell like Tarzan! It's soooo cool! He is definitely becoming territorial with me. As you all know, I love to play with kids and everytime they bring out other kids I like to try to share some love with them! Well, my boy does not like that so much! He gets very jealous of me playing with the other kids! Something we will work on, but it is also understandable at this point. So after we had a great visit with him we got together with 3 American families for dinner. We went out with the Fritzes, the Godwin's and the Sloans! What a good time and great food for cheap finally! Hey I also got my haircut by a Ukranian barber today! It costs me 25 grievna(that is $3.10 US) What an amazing job he did! He also took out a real authentic barber razor blade to trim around my ears and the back of my neck! I could not believe it! I got a great compliment from the head nurse when we were leaving Mini-me for the night, she said I was a "beautiful American boy" Eat your heart out Tom Cruise! :0) Sorry Ukranian woman, I am taken!

Well I want to leave you guys with this for today. Our God is the Only God worth serving. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, I hope you will know Him by the life we live for Him! My purpose in all this is to bring Glory to Our Heavenly Father. So please, no matter where you are or what your going through, cry out to Jesus and He will fill you up!

I love you all with a Christ like love,

Toby(Sr.) - Ha I like that! :0)

Don't know what day it is, but we got to see our boy again today!

2010-06-17T03:42:00.000-07:00

Dobre-Day (Good Afternoon) Everybody!

We spent the night last night trying to find some descent internet because this wireless card is about as good as my Ukranian around here! I am going to be checking to see if we can find another apartment with high speed internet. We are paying way too much for these apartments that don't have everything we want. I know it, and I actually ran into a lady from Sylversterpole (as I like to say it) that said for sure they are taking us for what we are worth. She is going to look into finding some places for us to check out. Also with the comment from our driver that said Dr's and teachers don't make $200 US in a month here. That means 3000 grievna is a whole lot of money for 10 days to stay. I know all you pros at this think well that just the way it is, but with lots of things here I have noticed, it does not have to be that way. So we will see what happens.
Anyways,
We had another great morning with TJ. We seem to get along well with all the nurse staff so far. I am thinking my size is a big component in helping the situation. I know ultimatley it is God that is showing us favor though.

Again, he is definately showing seperation emotions which makes me sad and glad at the same time! We have met an Italian couple here Enrico and Marina. They are adopting a boy with no physical or psychological issues. He is a great English speaking Italian that has a heart for God and it is just some really great fellowship. TJ actually went to him and Enrico just melted. Becareful everyone, you will melt too! He is just sooo cool! Enrico is adopting a boy they are calling Maxamillion. Max for short! I get to see and play with a bunch of the other orphans as well! I have taught them the Tarzan call! So now when they see me they pound there chest and go AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Like Tarzan. The coolest thing is that Toby also has started it! He is showing some great signs of learning!

Well thos lousy internet won't even allow me to upload 1 picture. I will try later. I found this restautrant that is a block away that looks to be very inexpensive to eat, has a waiter that speaks some English, he said they have high speed internet there, and they are open till 11pm which 3 pm there in Nebraska! So hopefully we will be able to share more. I had to walk home in the rain from my excursion while Suzanne slept. Man it is raining hard here! Well I am going to go and enjoy a pork chop one of the neighbor ladies made for us with some Borschk, and salad. It was awesome yesterday! Home made! MMMMMMMgood!

Hey Hey Hey, We are with Tj!

2010-06-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

This is actually Toby writing this time. We are having an amazing time with our new son! He is truly something special. He is almost four but is experiencing the terrible Two's! It is fun but sad at the same time because we can't really communicate with him, to properly help him with the NO he gives us! Still it was awesome to see him today realize we are special to him and to have him reach for us when we have to leave him. Again, it is great, but very sad at the same time. I had to hold back the tears! I just want to take him and make him ours, but I know I need to submit to the authorities in place. I can't wait to set him free, like Jesus does to us!
May God be glorified through this all! My prayer and hope from the minute we started is that everyone would see God through this all and bring glory to Him in Heaven!

Well got to get to bed, the sunlight penetrates this place in the morning and makes it hard to sleep!

TJ's first teddy bear, Baloo and his first (and only) speedo :)

2010-06-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Toby's New Fishing Friend

2010-06-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

Some new RR Friends

2010-06-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hanging out in Kiev (longer than we hoped to:)

2010-06-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

Well, for those of you who were concerned about the picture mix-up...it seems that there was just a random picture in his file. We got the actual referral yesterday around 3pm and the name and birthdate on it are correct, so we are assuming that they just didn't have a baby picture of him so they place a random on in there.
Unfortunately, we are unable to head down to Simferopol until Sunday night. Since it is the weekend, we are unable to see him until Monday. UGH!!! More waiting....
Although, today we were able to get together with two other Reece's Rainbow couples and hang out with them for a bit. It is so cool to meet others who have hearts for orphans!! (AND can speak English!!)
Toby has been making some unusual friendships with some of the locals. For those of you that know Toby, you probably don't find that hard to believe. He actually got a chest pump from a guy at the local market yesterday and has made good friends with the men at the local tackle shop:) We have done a little shopping for souvenirs and Toby bought TJ his first (and ONLY) speedo...it is not technically a speedo, but it is made out of the same material. It is really cute. We also bought him his first teddy bear...Baloo the bear.
I will try to post the pics.
Well, not much more of an update for now. We will be traveling down to Simferopol tomorrow night by train...a 14 HOUR ride!! Please pray that we are able to sleep through most of it.

Our SDA appt.

2010-06-10T01:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I slept through the entire day yesterday and was up at about 5am this morning waiting for our SDA appt. We were picked up at 8am by Nickolai and picked up another family as well. Then, we go to meet Serge. He told us we would go first and 2 minutes later, the appt. was complete! I couldn't believe how fast and easy it was. We got a picture of him when he was younger, but Toby and I both do not think it is even him. Serge said, "This is him." Toby said, "Is it?" And Serge replied, "Of course it is!"
The bad news is that we will not get our referral until tomorrow around 4 or 5 and since it is the weekend, we will not be able to meet our little man until MONDAY:( I am so bummed!! I just hope these next few days FLY by!!
The good news is that we met some more RR couples that we will be able to hang out with while we wait.

We are in Kiev!!!

2010-06-07T21:26:00.001-07:00

Well, we arrived in Kiev yesterday around 1:30 their time, which was around 5:30am CST. What a culture shock. It is just so weird to be in a country where you cannot speak their language and for the most part, they don't speak ours. It is also hard getting used to the time difference. We slept for about 10 hours when we got here. Toby got up around 3:30 their time and I got up around 4. AM that is!! We listened to the Red Sox online and then SKYPE'd our family. We are soooo thankful for having wireless internet in our apartment. God is so good. He even provides for our technological wants:)
We have a few days here before our SDA appt. A few too many in my estimation. I wish we could head down to Simferopol sooner to meet our little man. I feel like it will seem like a lifetime before we can head down there. Hopefully, we will be able to go Friday.
It is certainly an adventure of a lifetime...We are hoping to meet up with some other Reece's families today. It will be nice to have someone to TALK to:)

Off we go. . .

2010-06-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well, the time is finally here. In less than 24 hours, we will be heading to meet our son. What a jumble of emotions I am right now. I am soooo excited, but very nervous too. We have never traveled out of the country (besides Canada and Mexico) and I am nervous about not being able to speak the language. I am also so sad about leaving our girls. We have NEVER been away from them for more than a few days. Last night was a tough night. We all were crying (except my husband). I told them how much they will be blessed for giving up of their mommy and daddy for TJ. I just pray that they are safe and healthy and have a ton of fun while we are gone. I pray that they families they will be staying with will give them an extra portion of grace!
I can't believe in less than a week we will FINALLY meet TJ!! What a long, exhausting journey it has been, but oh it will be so worth it so soon!!

We got our SDA appt.

2010-05-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

We got our e-mail with our SDA appt. this morning!!! Our appt. is for June 10th!! That is the good news. The bad news is that I will miss my brother's wedding:( My 3 daughters are supposed to be in the wedding...so now on top of planning our trip to Eastern Europe, we have to try to get the girls from Nebraska to San Francisco, CA!! Lots to do! I can't believe that in less than 1 month, I will meet my son for the first time. This has certainly been a long time coming. I am so thankful that I serve such a Mighty God. It is only by Him that this has all been possible. All I can say is YEEEHHHAAAWWW!!!!!!!!!

It finally happened!!

2010-04-29T14:34:00.001-07:00

I just got the e-mail confirming that our dossier was indeed submitted today. I am sooooo excited!! It is funny how God works. He just wants us to surrender and accept His Will and when we finally come to the end of us...there He is! I am so thankful that I serve such an awesome God. When I am finally holding my little boy in my arms, I will be in awe of all the miracles that it took for us to get there.
I was reading a book last night and a quote jumped out at me. It was truly speaking of exactly where I am. It said, "Even when there is no hope, you must continue working. But it is only when you acknowledge you are powerless that God answers your prayers." It isn't a coincidence that I just confessed my powerlessness, and that I am ok with that, two days ago and then our dossier gets submitted! God is good. I can't wait to see how quickly he'll bring us to meet our son.

Feeling Convicted

2010-04-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, I have been feeling convicted about my reaction to disappointments in this process. I feel especially convicted about the example I am setting for my daughters. Yes, it is ok to be discouraged and disappointed, but I need to increase my trust in the Lord and convey this to my children. God IS still in control...and I am not. That is the lesson that I have to keep learning over and over. Probably because I keep messing up and trying to take the control back again. I don't know the reasons for the delays and I may never know, but I need to believe that God knows and has a plan, a better plan than I could ever imagine. I also have to remind myself that before TJ was our son, he was God's child and God loves him even more than I do.
I was reminded in James that my present troubles are developing character in me and if I handle them correctly, they can even produce character in my children. So, for today, as Beth Moore reminded me at her simulcast this weekend, I am going to start anew. "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitudes of your minds;" - Eph. 4:21-23
I am realizing that as I live looking forward to the day that TJ will be home with us, I am missing out on the joy of the journey. It reminds me of the John Waller song "The Blessing" based on the verses in Deuteronomy 30:19.
"This day
you set life, you set death right before us,
This day
every blessing and curse is a choice now,
And we will choose to be a blessing for life."

More disappointment!!

2010-04-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

I am soooo ready to just give up all hope...AGAIN the submittal of our dossier has been postponed a week. Apparently, they need a document in order to be able to submit it. What document that is, I have no idea... All I can say is "Why? why? why?" I honestly feel like we are NEVER going to get our son. I have been reading other people's blogs and they're entire process is like 4 months and they already have their child home. Why is ours constantly getting postponed? I honestly don't know how much more of this I can take. The rollercoaster ride is getting to be a bit nauseating!

MORE Waiting. . .

2010-04-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been anticipating and praying that our dossier would be submitted today, April 15th, but just found out that ours will NOT be submitted until next week! Tears just welled up in my eyes as I read the e-mail. ANOTHER week of waiting...I don't know how much more of this I can take. I know a week probably doesn't sound long to most people, but too me, at this point, it feels like a lifetime. I just wanted to curl up in my bed and hibernate until next Thursday. It is like when you are overdue in a pregnancy and every day feels like eternity or like when you are induced into labor, but it doesn't work (speaking from experience!!)
Oh well, here's to another week . . .

I haven't Written in a while, but that doesn't mean things haven't been happening:)

2010-04-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

At the present time, our dossier is in Eastern Europe. I got an e-mail a week ago, from Yulia in Eastern Europe stating that my employment letter was not done correctly. I was devastated! I immediately got to work at getting a new one written. On Friday, on our way to a Red Sox game in Kansas City, I got the new letter apostilled and sent it overnight express to Eastern Europe. It cost a fortune for one simple document, but I am tired of waiting. It was supposed to arrive in Eastern Europe yesterday. I haven't heard whether or not they have received it, but I am going with "no news is good news". I am praying that our dossier will still be able to be submitted on Thursday and we are eagerly awaiting a travel date.
I figured out that we chose to adopt Misha on August 25, 2009, so by May 25th, it will be like a full term pregnancy. I am hoping to have an premie though:) I can hardly stand it anymore. There isn't a day that goes by where someone in the community doesn't ask me if we have him yet. I think he is going to be the most popular little man in Kearney, NE.
I am getting a bit nervous because my brother is getting married in June and I would HATE to have to miss his wedding. I am sure he would understand, but I would feel bad. I know that God has the perfect timing and I need to trust in that!!

Drove to Lincoln...

2010-03-24T14:13:00.001-07:00

So...on Monday, March 22, I drove to Lincoln (over 100 miles away)to get all the documents in our dossier apostilled. After a loooooong drive, the lady at the Sec. of the State informed me that 4 of the documents were not notarized correctly AND our marriage license had to be sent to Rhode Island to be apostilled (since that is where we were married). I couldn't believe it...MORE WAITING!!! On Tuesday, I overnight expressed our marriage licenses to RI, with an envelope for them to be overnight expressed back. Right now, I have corrected 3 out of the 4 other documents and am anxiously awaiting the fourth. I think I have checked my e-mail every 10 minutes all day waiting to hear from the lady who is re-doing it. I am trying to decide whether or not to drive back to Lincoln on Friday to get them apostilled so I can send out the dossier to Eastern Europe on Friday, rather than have to wait until next week. Time is ticking and I am getting worried that we wont be back from Eastern Europe in time for my brother's wedding in June.
In the mean time, we have gotten a crib and have his room all set...just waiting for him!! God really must be working on my patience and trust in His timing, not mine. I know eventually it will all be worth it, but in the meantime, it is killer!! It is getting harder and harder to concentrate on ANYTHING else. Please pray that the Lord will help the process to go smoothly from here on out AND that I can find joy in the process...

Felt Like I had False Labor!!

2010-03-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

So, last Wednesday, we received the USCIS approval in the mail. YEEEEHHHAAAWWW!! Praise God it came sooo quickly. I was so excited and ready to take a trip to Lincoln to get the documents all apostilled. I decided I better fax them to Meredith and Lydia one more time to make sure there were no mistakes. In doing so, I realized that we were missing one document...the state clearance. We obviously got it done for our homestudy, so I just needed to locate it, right?!? WRONG!! Unfortunately, when we started the adoption process, we were going through a different organization, one which DID NOT require a notarized copy of the clearance. So, I called Lincoln to see if they could simply draw up another copy of the clearance and notarize it. NOPE!! Long story short, we needed to re-do our state fingerprinting! I was (and still am) devastated! I literally felt like I went into the hospital thinking I was in labor and they sent me home.
As I type this up, we are still awaiting that stinkin' notarized clearance form. We are hoping and praying it will come quickly so we can get our dossier sent to Eastern Europe. This waiting is getting harder and harder to do!!

USCIS Fingerprinting Appt.

2010-02-19T17:51:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a 3 hour drive to Omaha and a 3 hour drive back for a 15 minute appt.! I can't believe that we had to go all the way to the Office Of Homeland Security and do the exact same thing that we did months ago in Grand Island simply because the State government and the Federal government do not like to share info. Crazy, huh?!?!
Now, we have to play the waiting game again. I will wait for approx. 10 days and then start e-mailing again. The squeaky wheel get the grease, right:) I just want my little man in my arms NOW!! I am so tired of waiting for that day. My empty arms are aching to hold him. . . Hey, at least we are one step closer to that day.

We have ALL the finances we need!!! PRAISE GOD!!

2010-02-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday, Toby met me at basketball practice to tell me that our miracle has occured! He got a call from a lady at Lifesong Ministries telling him that someone had donated $12,000 towards our adoption. It is in the form of a covenant loan, so when we get our adoption tax credit, we can pay it back. It reminded us of the parable of the mustard seed...our mountain was moved!!
Another miracle that has occured is that Toby had a change of command at work and his new boss said that it shouldn't be a problem for him to work from the Eastern Europe! He is amazing, isn't He?!?! I can't wait to tell TJ how God parted the Red Sea to get him home.

Fingerprinting Appt.

2010-01-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

Literally, about 2 hrs. after my last post, I got the e-mail from USCIS stating that our appt. is Feb. 19th at 1pm!! Boy, God didn't waste any time in taking over once I surrendered control!! Another miracle. . .

God continues to move. . .

2010-01-29T06:58:00.000-08:00

Well, another HUGE praise report!! As we are planning another fundraiser, (babysitting for Valentine's Day) God proceeded to blow us away with another completely unexpected miracle. We got a call on Tuesday that an anonymous donor gave $3,500 to our adoption account at the church. I am still in complete and utter awe!! He continues to go before us and affirm that this IS His will for us.
As the finances seem to be falling into place, I am getting frustrated with a lack of response from the USCIS. I am so anxious to keep moving forward and get frustrated with the "hurry up and wait" process. I have been trying to contact several people to find out the status of our application, but have gotten absolutely NO response!! UGH!! As each day passes, my frustration level rises. However, this morning in my quiet time, the Lord reminded me that this will happen in HIS time, not neccesarily mine. He comforted me with a verse from Psalm 27:14, "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." I need to stop pushing and start trusting and walking more in faith!

Moving right along...

2010-01-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a while because we have been VERY busy. We have painted and decorated TJ's room. It turned out really cute. The theme is Super Hero Squad (little superheroes). I'll post some pics. All we need now is the crib:) It makes it seem more real now and gets me so excited.
We also got our home study report!! YYYYEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!! We just got it in the mail yesterday and I mailed out our USCIS application today, along with a grant application. I am getting nervous now about the money. We are trying to decide whether we should do another fundraiser or wait on grants. I applied online for another grant and have 2 more applications almost ready to send off. We are getting closer and it is way exciting!!

Kind of Bummed...

2009-12-21T21:16:00.000-08:00

I found out today that our home study report will not be done until after Christmas. They thought they would be able to get it written before Christmas, but she called today to let me know that that will not happen. Oh well, I'll just have to be a bit more patient.. .

PHEW!!

2009-12-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

We completed the first part of our home study today. Boy, did I stress for nothing!! The lady who did our home study was the most laid back, down to earth woman who made us feel so at ease. In fact, she didn't even go outside of our dining room to look at the house (that I had spent the past 3 hours cleaning:). That was ok with me, though.
We showed her a video that Chad made for us of little Misha and she commented, "We've got to get him home fast!" At that point, I knew I could breathe a HUGH sigh of relief. I don't know why I allowed myself to get so anxious, I know that the Lord is in this and that He will work out everything for good according to His purpose and I know, from His Word, that adoption is His heart.
Anyway, I am soooo pumped (to say the least). Our next appt. is Tuesday night and she is willing to get the whole process done as quickly as possible, knowing it is a matter of life and death.
Again, God has shown up and blown me away. He is such a cool God, isn't He?!?!

God NEVER ceases to amaze me!!

2009-11-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

We got a call the other night from a friend of ours. She had recently been in Broken Bow and met a lady who had a sibling with Down Syndrome. Our friend shared our story with her and she was so excited. She can't wait to get together with us to share her experiences growing up with a sister with DS. I think that will be incredibly valuable to our girls. As if that wasn't cool enough, she asked if we still needed money for the adoption. After our friend told her that yes, we were still trying to raise funds, she wrote us a check for $1500.00!!! I am still in awe...a person whom we have NEVER met was willing to sacrifice soo much to help us bring TJ home!! It just confirms to me that this truly is God's Will for us. I don't even know how to begin to thank her...she is a true ANGEL!!!

ENCHILADAS!!!

2009-11-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

WOW!! We survived!! We put in 2 ten hour days making 360 dozen enchiladas!! Boy were we exhausted! BUT it will be well worth it!! (I can't wait to find out the grand total from our church!)
I had a dream Saturday night that I was holding little TJ and kissing the top of his little head as he snuggled into me. I woke up with aching, EMPTY arms!! I cannot wait for them to be filled with my little boy. Tomorrow we will FINALLY be able to send the check to Adoption Consultants and get rolling with the home study. I can't wait to have that completed! I have been gathering paperwork while we've been waiting so hopefully we will be able to send in the dossier shortly after our homestudy is completed. This time cannot go by fast enough for me!!

Fundraiser Update

2009-11-02T16:51:00.000-08:00

God is soooo good to us!! Our enchilada orders grand total is 325 orders...that is 3,900 enchiladas!!! Boy do we have a lot of work cut out for us. I know that God will provide the help and it will be all to His Glory.
After doing the calculations, if people only paid the $18 per order, which MANY gave above and beyond that, we would have $5,850!! Minus the cost of making them, which will be around $1500, that gives us a profit of...over $4000!!!! PRAISE GOD!!

As I was typing this, I got 6 more orders!! Crazy!!

I am sooo excited to be able to FINALLY move forward and get our son HOME!!!

What A Week!

2009-10-14T17:12:00.001-07:00

This has been a huge week for getting out awareness of our adoption and the desperate need for these children to be adopted. We got interviewed by the Kearney Hub and the article will be out this Saturday. Then, today, I got interviewed on the Christian Radio Station by Stan Parker. Tomorrow, Toby, the girls and I will be going to NTV (the local TV station) to be interviewed. Lastly, on Sunday, we will be going in front of the church to talk about the adoption and our fundraiser. We are so excited!!
It is exciting, but every once in a while, fear creeps in, in the form of the "what ifs"...what if we don't pass our homestudy...what if we don't raise enough money...what if something happens to Misha before we can bring him home...etc. I feel like Peter when Jesus told him to step out of the boat. For the most part, I feel like I am truly walking on the water. Then, I take my eyes off of Jesus and begin to sink... I pray that he "helps me overcome my unbelief" (Mark 9:24).

What A Great Surprise!!!

2009-10-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

We just got blessed tremendously with pictures and videos of Misha from 2007 and 008. It is so neat to be able to see him grow and change. I am so thankful for all of the wonderful people that the Lord has placed in our lives during this process. Thanks you Amanda!!

Fundraiser

2009-09-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

I think we FINALLY decided to do an enchilada fundraiser. Our friends, the Laughrey's, had one and it was very successful. We will have people pre-order the enchiladas and then have a pick-up time and place. We will post the details as they become more clear. We know it will be in Oct. sometime, but that is about all we know. Stay tuned for more details:)

A New Name

2009-09-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

Just as the Lord changed Abram's name to Abraham and Simon to Peter and Saul to Paul when they became part of His Family, so we will be changing Misha's name when he becomes part of ours. Technically, we cannot change it until we go to court in the Eastern Europe to finalize the adoption, but from now on we will refer to him by his new name. . . Toby Lee McDonald Jr. a.k.a. "T.J."...our little man:)

2009-09-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

New Song

2009-09-23T06:39:00.001-07:00

2009-09-21T05:23:00.001-07:00

Praise God!!

2009-09-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

PRAISE GOD!!!!
The appt. went well and we went ahead and put Misha "oh hold"!! Now...we just have to come up with 20 grand. No problem considering we serve a God who owns a cattle on a thousand hills:) Please keep praying because I know that the journey ahead of us wont be without stress. I am celebrating in this victory for now!! I feel like I just found out I was pregnant...in a sense, it is the same thing, isn't it?!?

Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.

FYI

2009-09-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

By the way....we had a GREAT meeting with our pastor and the fundraiser is back on!! God is already moving!!

BIG day today!!

2009-09-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that we will (hopefully) find out if it is possible for us to adopt little Misha. Please pray that the Lord will allow it to be. We have all already fallen in love with him, it would break our hearts not to be able to welcome him into our family as our son.

Hope?!?

2009-09-05T11:52:00.003-07:00

It seems like there may be one more avenue to try to be able to pursue little Misha. Please pray that God will make a way where there seems to me no way!!