Earlier in the month Ira one of our facilitators traveled from Kiev to join us in Khmelnytskyi.  She was assisting with the paperwork required by the Social Services department as well as meeting with the judge to set our court date as well as asking the judge for an online court appointment.  The meeting with the judge went very well. He was down to earth and had the appearance of a kind family man.  He thankfully agreed to arrange for our court appointment to be online.  This would mean that either Inna along with the director of the orphanage, social worker, and Anna and Artem would appear in person before the judge, while we will appear online on a TV screen in the courtroom.

The day before leaving Khmelnytskyi, we had one of the hardest moments of our life, saying goodbye to Anna and Artem.  We assured them that no matter what happens, if they get in trouble, or anything happens, we will be back to bring them home.  Little Anna asked, “Even if I break a vase?”  To which we replied, “Yes, even if you break a vase!”

We had long tight hugs from each of them before Artem engaged us to hug all together as a family.  Ryan and I both were crying and Anna and Artem kept pulling back to look at us so innocently, probably wondering what was happening.  Walking back that day, I balled my eyes out.  Feeling terrible for crying like that in front of them, not being able to hold myself together.  We also feared that they would feel abandoned by us.  Knowing we had to go back to Canada, the time away was going to be so incredibly hard on all of us.

Our last day in Khmelnytskyi was spent with Dima driving us to the Social Services office to pick up documents, then we drove to a place to make copies and put the 4 dossiers together.  Last stop was the court house to pick up the court document confirming out court date set for July 15th.

The train ride back to Kiev was interesting.  We boarded the train and there was a child sleeping in our seats with bags covering the floor.  The train was packed with no where to even place our luggage.  Finally the father came from near the front of our car to tend to his child, but they were refusing to move.  We stood for about 15 min as the train was moving on route to Kiev.  Without knowing the language, it was hard to communicate with anyone.  We got placed in other seats by security on the train, but then were moved again when the person came back to their seats only to find us sitting in them!  After the mass confusion, about 30 min later we finally got to our original paid seats.  The ride was extremely uncomfortable as there was no room for our luggage but between our legs.  After an emotional day, and challenging train ride, we finally made it back to Kiev arriving at 1am.

Flying home we were constantly thinking of Anna and Artem and how the journey home will end up being with them alongside us.  Where will we sit, where will we eat, how will we manage all our luggage?  Exciting to think and plan ahead like this that we will be coming back as a family soon one day!

We are now back home for about a month and lots has happened.  The ministry office was unable to provide their consent of the adoption in time for our court appointment on July 15th.  We discovered this on July 14th, at which time our court date was postponed to September 3rd.  The approval from the ministry office ended up being received on Aug 4th; however, the judge is on vacation for all of August and cannot hold our hearing now until September 3rd at the earliest.

This unfortunately means more waiting for us and more time apart from our sweethearts.  We have been able to keep in touch with them online having FaceTime conversations and mostly texting.  Anna has been busy making lots of drawings for us and texting them to us, she also introduced us to their pet turtle at the orphanage.  We hear from Artem occasionally, but he seems to be keeping himself busy while we are away.

Praying that this time will fly by quickly and that we will be able to bring our children home soon!

We ended up staying a week longer than expected to allow time to get all of the paperwork together for finalizing the adoption.

During these weeks we would have our normal routine of morning coffee, planning our day, go for a walk, and have lunch at our friend’s restaurant.  After, we would either explore or head back to the hotel for rest and then head over to the orphanage for 4pm.  We spent these days with no translator for the vast majority of the stay which had it’s challenges, but also allowed us to have time alone with the children.

Everyday we would arrive at the orphanage to find Anna and Artem inside in their living area usually watching TV or eating a snack.  No matter what the weather was like, we would head straight outside to play.  They love playing on the swings, and playing sports like soccer, volleyball, and badminton.  We always brought an activity of some sort as well as snacks everyday.  It didn’t take long and they were calling us Mama and Papa and giving us hugs, saying I love you. 

The bonding and attachment was happening quickly.  It felt like speed dating, getting to know each other in a very short period of time and the relationship moving at lightning speed.  Every day we would leave the orphanage at 6pm and walk back to the hotel stopping off at our restaurant for supper first.  This time was spent reflecting on the day, special moments that happened, and looking at the pictures we each took.  The evenings at the hotel were spent calling family and friends back home and updating them of what was happening during our day.  These were incredibly special moments as our family and friends would share encouraging words throughout this entire journey.  We would cherish every word shared with us.

We had a few of the days during our time spent there that we were allowed to take Anna and Artem off of the orphanage grounds.  The first outing we had was about a week after meeting them.  After researching what activities were available for children in the area, we discovered a zoo and a children’s play centre.   We walked over to our restaurant to eat lunch before starting our adventure.  While walking Anna took her jean jacket off as she was getting too hot.  She handed it to Artem, and what happened next floored us.  Artem took her jacket without hesitation, folded it and placed it over his arm.  He carried it proudly for her all the way – so kind and such a gentleman.  While at the restaurant we ate pizza and the children were talking non stop to our server in Ukrainian.  She later shared with us that they were pretty much telling her their whole life story.  Once they finished their meal, they picked up their dishes and started walking to the kitchen!  This is normal practice in the orphanage, nobody is there to clean up after you, you clean up after you finish eating.  One of the cute memories we will hold on to.  The first place we visited after the restaurant was the zoo, but unfortunately, there was not much to see there.  The zoo was more of a game farm, and was pretty run down.  We didn’t stick around long before moving to our next destination, “Children’s world”.  Here they had a whole bunch of children’s activities including a jungle gym, ball pit, zip line, climbing centre, rollerblading, skateboarding, trampolines, and games like air hockey.  Anna and Artem both tried rollerblading and loved it.  For Artem it was his second time, but for Anna it was her first time.  She was determined to figure it out, never giving up.  Falling lots, but not afraid of getting hurt.  After lots of falling, she finally figured it out and was skating with confidence near the end.  Both of them continue to show their athleticism which is so great to see!

Another outing we had was to meet Anna and Artem’s Grandmother.  We were fortunate to have our translator with us this day.  This was a definite highlight for us as she shared pictures of Anna and Artem when they were younger and pictures of their beautiful Mother who has since passed away.  Their grandmother was so sweet and kind to us showing her full acceptance of us adopting Anna and Artem.  We will continue to stay in contact with her as she is a special part of Anna and Artem and now our lives too.

On one of our last days in Khmelnytskyi, we took Anna and Artem out for the day.  Our facilitator Inna arranged to have Dima the director’s son take us to a local mall to shop for Anna’s and Artem’s new outfits to wear for their upcoming court appointment.  This was a special time, so fun seeing them pick clothes out and try them on.  Artem found his outfit right away, but we visited several stores before finding Anna’s perfect outfit.   And guess who picked it out for her?  Artem!  He is so sweet to his sister, acts like a gentleman and truly cares for her wellbeing.  It so beautiful to see the close relationship they have with one another.  Here they both are posing in their new outfits.

On Monday, June 7, 

2021, we had our first appointment set to meet with the Minis

try Office of Social Service of Ukraine.  This appointment is where you are presented options of children available for adoption. 30 minutes prior to this appointment we met with Inna, our translator and facilitator, outside on a street side cafe.

Inna had prepared for us printouts of the children appear

ing on the Ministry’s website that were showing available for adoption.  She had the children grouped in categories, boy & girl, 2 girls, 2 boys, then single non sibling children girls and boys.  We were about to start looking through the black and white printouts when it started to rain.  Quickly we covered up the paperwork and moved to another location with a shelter over a bench.

It was here in this location that we saw our children’s beautiful faces for the first time, although Ryan and I never spoke it out loud to each other, we new in our souls Anna (9) and Artem (11) were ours.

Going into the appointment with the Ministry office it is recommended that you have a list of children that you are interested in, so we followed Inna’s recommendations and selected a few others, but our full intentions were on only Anna and Artem.  We walked into the meeting and the clerk Oksana presented us first with pictures of children with severe disabilities.  Our facilitator explained that we have not been approved to adopt children with severe disabilities.  Oksana asked if there were children we had selected from the site that we were potentially interested in.  Inna passed the photos over, then Oksana left to go up to the 11th floor to bring back their files.  We waited about 20 minutes before she returned with files in hand.  She started opening files, but Anna and Artem were not there.  Though the children presented were beautiful, it was a complete blur as we had our minds set and we were not seeing Anna and Artem here.  Ryan finally asked what about Anna and Artem?  Oksana replied that yes she thinks they are still available and went to an office next door to grab their file.

She presented us the photo’s you see here and started to share about their background and medicals.  We discovered in this appointment that the children were from a region that was neighbouring to where Ryan’s Great Grandfather was born and raised.  Right at the start of our adoption application back in October 2019, we had spoken with our Agency about the possibility of adopting from this part of the Western region, but the way the process works, it is almost impossible to select children from specific areas of the country.  For this reason, we never expected that this would likely happen as most of the adoptions our agency had performed were from the southern region of Ukraine.

Once Oksana had finished presenting, we asked if Ryan and I could go to an office to discuss privately.  She gave us an office next door where the conversation was very short.  We knew 100% that these were our children, we only wanted to make it look to the ministry office that we were not making a fast decision, but rather taking time to discuss privately.  From there we signed a request to meet with Anna and Artem.

The next day we went back to the Ministry office to pick up our approval letter which is required to present to the social services office in the city where the orphanage resides.   This all went smoothly.  Waiting outside in the hot sun with another couple from Italy who was waiting to pick up their approval letter to visit their 3rd orphanage.  Again, feeling very fortunate that we were able to find our children on the first appointment.

On Wednesday, June 9th, 2021 we woke up early that morning to board our train around 7am.  The train was newer and had lots of space and comfortable seating.  With our bags and luggage on hand we were now on our way from Kiev to Khmelnytskyi which was a 4 hour train ride.

The feeling on the train was a feeling of excitement and nerves.  Wondering what would their personalities be like, what would the connection feel like, even some of the logistical aspects of what the orphanage would be like were just a few of the thoughts we had.

The country side of Western Ukraine was beautiful, but as the train passed through many small villages, the poverty in some of these areas was very evident.  Small homes that would be considered a tear down shed here in Canada, were how just some of the people are living there.  You could see they live a simpler life, yet lots of children running and playing outside.

Finally we arrived at our destination.  Khmelnytskyi has a population of around 200,000 so it is considered smaller.  Our taxi took us to our hotel where we dropped off our luggage and freshened up for the busy day ahead.  After a quick bite to eat at the hotel restaurant, we took a taxi to the social services office about a 15 min taxi drive away.

We sat outside in the blistering heat until the social worker opened the door to let us in.  With Covid protocols, they only let you in the entrance way, no meetings are held in any offices.  We met briefly to present the approval letter given to us from the ministry office, which is the authorization to visit the children at the orphanage.  This meeting was very brief, with a social worker being assigned now to our file and joined us in our taxi as we headed to the orphanage.

Pulling up to the orphanage grounds, we could see lots of play structures and brightly painted buildings.  Feeling very excited and nervous, we walked into the orphanage.  No children were around as they were all in class when we arrived.  We walked up to the 2nd floor to meet in the director’s office.  The director and an orphanage worker were sitting at a desk.  They asked us to take seats on the couches near the entrance of the office.  Our social worker took a seat at the desk with the director, while Inna sat with us on the couches. 

The doctor entered the room and shared with us the same medical information that was shared with us at the ministry office in Kiev.  No additional surprises were found here, she just went into greater detail.

After the doctor left, a couple of minutes later, Anna and Artem entered the room.  They sat on a couple of chairs near our couch.  They walked in looking shy and a bit nervous as expected.  They were wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts with slippers on their feet.  They took their seats, swinging their legs on the chairs and giving us shy little smiles on their faces.

We asked a few questions with the help of Inna translating: What do you like to do?  What is your favourite colour?  What type of animals do you like?

The ice was really broken when they sat down on the couch next to us and Ryan started performing some magic tricks.  They LOVED it!  Giggling, laughing, and very curious.  Artem loved it when Ryan started showing him how to do the tricks.  It was so adorable to watch. 

Next we brought out the Family book we created for them.  The book contained pictures of our home, yard, things we like to do, pets, family, and friends they will meet.  We talked through all of the pictures, with Inna interpreting the entire time.  Their favourite part was seeing our dogs Maya & Jack.

After a short visit, the children whisked us off to show us the area they live in.  They ran off to their rooms and when they came back they were wearing different clothes.  From there they took us to their favourite part of the playground where we played soccer, danced, and played together.

The family photo at the top was taken just a couple hours after meeting them.  The connection was immediate with Anna and Artem just as we had dreamed it would be.  The meeting couldn’t have gone any better and the most incredible part to this journey is that we met our children on our 20 year wedding anniversary!  God’s timing is always the right timing and should never be questioned.

Inna asked Anna and Artem privately, do you think you would like to go to Canada with Ryan and Mandy.   Artem responded, “I think we will go, but we would like to talk to Grandma first”.  Anna and Artem’s Grandmother is still a very big part of their lives.  She cares for them a great deal and visits as often as she can.

The next day when we arrived back at the orphanage, Anna and Artem came running up to Inna with great excitement.  They were speaking Ukrainian, but we could make out a few words, enough to know that this was good news.

Anna presented us with 2 drawings, writing at the top of each drawing, Mama & Papa.  They both gave us hugs and then ran ahead.  Inna turned to say, Artem spoke to Grandma and she has given her blessing, so they will go with you!  The best news we could have heard.

In Ukraine, the children also have to consent to the adoption.  We later found that Anna and Artem had turned down 3 other families prior to us.  They were truly waiting for us during the 6 years spent at the orphanage.

3 days after meeting Anna and Artem, Ryan and I sat down with the children to have a chat.  We had prepared the following in Ukrainian for them to read:

“We love you both.  We would love for you and Anna to come to Canada with us.  Do you want us to be your new family?  We will love you and support you.  We will teach you many good things.  You will have new friends and new family who will love you deeply and help you in every way.  Our family is your family, our friends are your friends, our home is your home.  We will keep in contact with your grandma and support her, she will be in our family too.  If you want we will keep in contact with your friends and the orphanage.   We will learn Ukrainian and you will learn English, we will help each other.”

After each section, they both said yes.  Artem especially lit up when he read that we would keep in contact with Grandma and help support her.  After they finished reading they both looked at us like as if, of course.  Like it’s no big deal and we already know this.  Artem later asked if he will still be called Artem in Canada or if his name would change.  He was happy to hear he will still be called Artem.

Over the next few days, we would visit the orphanage from 4-6pm every day.  The hotel was only a 15 min walk and there were several convenience stores available to buy water and food. In addition to the hotel restaurant there was also a restaurant only 2 min from our hotel which served amazing homemade style food.   The owners Tatyana and Oleg quickly became friends to us even though there was a language barrier.

When we arrived on Monday, June 14th at our regular 4pm time, Anna and Artem came running up to us excited to tell us that they had met with the social worker and signed the documents to agree to be adopted by us.  It was official we are now a family.

And we’re off!

On Thursday, June 2, 2021 Ryan and I left our home into the unknown and what would be the biggest decision and adventure of our life.

We arrived at the Winnipeg airport with everything in order, Negative Covid-19 tests in hand only to find out that 15 min prior to boarding our documents for our Covid-19 tests were  not meeting the minimum requirements.  We were missing the date the sample was collected, our documents only stated the date the results were received.  Thankfully our sister-in-law Leona works for the company who did the tests for us.  We called her in a panic and she was able to have a person in her office resolve it quickly.  The plane was starting to board, when finally the email came through with the amended document.  We owe all the thanks to Leona for helping make this happen or else we wouldn’t have been allowed to board the plane!

From there the trip was pretty smooth sailing.  The biggest challenge was wearing our masks for about 24 hours straight.  Whether you were in the plane or at the airport, masks had to be worn at all times.  The only breaks from wearing your mask was if you were eating or drinking.  So we took advantage of meal time by eating extra slow.  The flight from Toronto to Frankfurt was empty, literally only a handful of people, so it was really nice being able to stretch out and get up to walk around with ease.

Once we landed in Kiev our facilitator and translator Inna was waiting for us just outside the airport doors.  From there we were headed to a Notary’s office to sign some additional paperwork for the application to adopt.  Then finally we arrived at our apartment in downtown Kiev overlooking the Maidan Square.  It was beautiful and we were excited to finally get some rest.  By this point we were running about 30hrs with little to no sleep.

Over the next couple of days Inna walked us through our next steps of the adoption process and what to expect.  These days of waiting for our appointment at the ministry office were a flood of emotions, nervousness and excitement all at the same time.