Our Journey Home

We spent the next days in Khmelnytskyi in our apartment and going on small little adventures to the park and shopping nearby.  Luckily the passports were issued ahead of schedule so our time spent in Khmelnytskyi was shorter than expected, but we really enjoyed the parks and ease of getting around as almost everything was within walking distance for us.

It was neat to see Anna and Artem interact with the children on the playground.  They make friends quite easily and are not shy to meet new people, young and old.  We started to learn that when we would go out to eat at a restaurant that Ryan and I would have to give the server direction that all food would need to be ordered through us.  On a few occasions food was arriving at our table that the children had ordered and we didn’t know they ordered it because we couldn’t understand what they were saying to the server.  One morning we went to a coffee shop for some coffee and a small breakfast, and Anna tried ordering cheesecake and a latte!

The food was delicious everywhere we went, but for the most part we would make our own meals in the apartment.  The problem was that our apartment was freezing cold as they hadn’t turned the heat on for the season yet.  We ended up having to turn the oven on with the door open to heat up the place.  You would see us often huddling around the stove warming up.

The time at the apartment was really great despite being cold.  It was here where we began to see the children’s routines and abilities.  They were both very orderly and kept their rooms and areas of the home clean.  Shoes would be placed at the door neatly in a line, and without even asking, they would get their pyjamas on, brush their teeth and head to bed.  In the morning, Artem would be the first to get up.  By the time we would wake up, he would be found sitting at the kitchen table, dressed and playing a game.  Once up, they would make their bed on their own, place their pyjamas under their pillow and get ready for the day.  Extremely well trained and disciplined.  I noticed that they would turn their clothes they had already worn inside out, then place them in the closet to distinguish what was clean and what was already worn, but not ready for laundry yet.  Brilliant!

Both Anna and Artem were eager to help in the kitchen, whether it was learning how to cook or cleaning dishes, both were very engaged to participate.

The first item on our shopping list to get them was warmer jackets, toques, and gloves.  We were not expecting that the weather was going to be much colder then what it was back home, so we were a bit unprepared.  While at the store buying the jackets, the clerk was taking a bit longer than normal to process our transaction.  It had something to do with they tried charging it in US dollars vs. Ukrainian Currency and their was an issue with the conversion to our credit card.  It took quite a while before it was sorted out, but the staff there were very kind and were chatting away with the children.  I used my translation app at the end to thank them and to explain why we were speaking English yet our children were Ukrainian.  Their response was, “Yes, we already know, the children told us that they were from an orphanage and are now being adopted and moving to Canada.”  Indeed, not shy and proud of their story which is something so awesome.

We were able to spend time with Anna and Artem’s grandmother (their late Mother’s Mom) in addition to their Aunt Luda and her husband Roma.  Luda is their late Mother’s sister and they have 3 children who were unable to join us that day. The entire family has been very supportive and kind to us throughout this process.  Their love for Anna and Artem is very evident.

At last the passports were ready and we were able to leave Khmelnytskyi for Kiev on Oct 12th.  Fortunately we were able to reserve seats with a table which allowed us to play games, colour and ride comfortably for our 4 hr train ride.  Both Anna and Artem were able to sleep a couple hours on the train, but they were very excited every time they saw lights asking if we were in Kiev yet.  Upon arriving, Kate, our driver was waiting right at our train door helping us with our luggage and the children as we disembarked the train.  A short walk and we were at her car.  The children were in awe of the lights and the big buildings and of course the big McDonald’s which stood across the street from the train station. 

We arrived at our apartment rental that night around 1:30am.  The next morning Anna woke up throwing up throughout the morning.  Ryan wasn’t feeling much better which led us to believe they both had food poisoning from the pizza at the restaurant the night before.  By afternoon everyone was feeling fine and back up and running. 

The next day Inna and I went to the Canadian Embassy to start our application for Canadian Visa’s. This is the final step in our documentation required to fly home.  The days after this were spent touring the area by foot, visiting various sites and parks.  Kyiv is a beautiful city, very clean and easy to get around.  Our first few days in Kyiv they were celebrating the Ukrainian military at St Andrews Square right next to our apartment.  They had numerous military vehicles and equipment out on full display which was quite cool to see.  Both Anna and Artem had fun climbing on the tanks and checking everything out.

We also had a chance to visit our friend Taras and his girlfriend for dinner.  After they took us for a drive around Kyiv to see some of the beautiful sites, monuments, and bridges.  It was a very memorable and wonderful time spent with friends.

On Oct 19th we received notice from the Canadian Embassy that the visa’s were ready for pick up!  We spent nearly 2 hours on the phone with Aeroplan arranging to switch to earlier flights and thankfully the customer service agent we were speaking with was able to make this happen.  She not only got us an earlier flight, which meant we were able to leave 5 days earlier, she also managed to get the first flight of the trip in business class.  This was so amazing to give Anna and Artem this special treatment for their first flight ever.

Our travel day was very long getting up at 3am to leave at 4am for the airport.  We flew from Kyiv to Munich, Germany where we had a 7.5hr layover for our flight to Toronto.  Our time at Munich was pretty fun.  We played games, ate at a of couple restaurants, and found a wonderful indoor playground that the children and Ryan loved.

Once boarded on our flight from Munich to Toronto, things were already starting to feel at home.  Something about boarding Air Canada when you are overseas already makes you feel that you are one step closer to all the things that are familiar once again.  Upon Arriving in Toronto, we made a mad dash for customs as we only had 1 hr and 15 min before our next flight was boarding.  There was no time to waste.  Customs went fairly quick; however we also had to stop over at Immigration to review Anna and Artem’s documentation.  Everyone was very kind and could see we were stressed about potentially missing our final flight home to Winnipeg.  The customs agent finished and asked if we had any questions.  I jokingly looked at him and said, “uh ya, do you know how to raise children?”.  We all had a good chuckle and he helped direct us where we needed to go next.  By the time we were at the Covid Testing area our flight had already started boarding.  At this point, we were setting ourselves up fo the great possibility we were not going to make this last flight home.  We ran to our next area which was security once again, only to find that we had accidentally left a water bottle from the flight in one of our backpacks.  This meant we had to wait for the bag to be thoroughly checked through by security. Once cleared, we ran and I mean we ran to the point of not being able to breathe only to find that we were at the wrong gate!  Unfortunately, my Air Canada App didn’t refresh with the new gate showing.  This meant another long run from one end fo the airport to the complete other end, desperate to catch the next plane home.  We got to the gate with just a of couple minutes to spare, barely breathing, sweating, and truly making a scene.  Not a great feeling, but once on that plane it was the best feeling ever.  We are in Canada!  We are on our final flight and so close to being home.

We are finally here! How amazing that feeling was arriving at our final destination and thankfully our luggage all arrived.  The drive home felt so great and was another milestone for us as we got in our SUV as a family for the first time.  Driving home it was dark as we pulled into our lane just after 11pm.  The dogs were waiting anxiously for our arrival and gave us a glorious howl as we entered the house.  Anna and Artem were excited to finally see their new home and even more excited to see their new rooms. 

We did it!  2 years in the making, and we are finally here at the picture we had always dreamt of.  What an amazing feeling it was tucking our children into their beds for the first time at home.  Though exhausted, we all were excited to wake up the next morning and start our adventure as a family. 

Reunited and it feels so good!

The long anticipated wait is finally over.  The 30 day appeal period is complete and we have our go ahead to pick up the children.  Travelling during Covid is not easy, having to take several PCR tests, and having the appropriate travel documents to travel either through or into countries is the most stressful part of this journey.   Luckily we had everything in order to make this leg of our trip smooth sailing.

Ryan and I departed Winnipeg on Oct 3rd, leaving our old life behind and about to start the best time of our life.  We left the house saying to our two dogs Maya and Jack, “Get ready for your new life!”

Our flight left Winnipeg late and unfortunately we arrived in Montreal with no gate available.  We were left out on the tarmac for about 20 min causing major delays.  By the time we got off our plane, our next plane to Frankfurt had almost completed boarding.  There was one other passenger from the Winnipeg flight that ran through the airport with us praying our flight would still be there.  We literally ran from one end of the airport to the other, Gate 3 to 66, and quickly discovered we were not in shape.

Arriving in Frankfurt it took about 30 min to get to our next gate.  This time, they checked us through the gate, then we boarded a bus to board our plane on the tarmac.  Apparently they had to bring in another plane for us as there was something wrong with the original plane.  Thankful they found the problem on the ground and not in the air!

By the time we arrived in Kyiv, our plane was 1hr late, and the customs line up was another hour long wait.  With the time change it was now Oct 4th late afternoon by the time our driver Katya picked us up to take us to our apartment.

A quick sleep at our apartment and we were back on the train to Khmelnytskyi which boarded at 7am.  We arrived at 11am and Dima our driver took us to our apartment.  It was in a beautiful area of town on the 10th floor with amazing views of the city.

After a short 15 minutes at the apartment we were on our way for a quick pitstop at the orphanage before our 2hr drive to Shepetivka to change the children’s birth certificates.  This is the town nearest to the village they were born in.  Since we were on a tight deadline to make it to the Birth Certificate office, we stayed in the car while Inna ran into the orphanage to collect the documents required.  We sat in the car off to a distance searching the yard for the children playing to see if Anna and Artem were there.  It was so hard not running out of the car to go hug them, but we knew our reunion would soon come.  And meeting this deadline was extremely important to make that reunion happen.  We pulled up closer to the orphanage, while Inna jumped in the car and we waved at our 2 beautiful children blowing kisses at each other as they stood at the fence line with great excitement on their faces.  Inna explained to them that we were in a hurry, but would be back as soon as possible.

Returning that evening back to our apartment after a long day and a very bumpy 135 km/h car ride of 2 hrs there and 2hrs back, we were both exhausted.   We met Inna for dinner to review the plans ahead of us.

The next morning we woke up, unpacked our bags along with the children’s luggage containing all of their new clothes and shoes they would need.  We set up their room with a few new toys as well as birthday decorations as it was Anna’s birthday that day!  What an amazing birthday gift, to leave the orphanage with your new family.  A day she will never forget!

Later that morning, I got a call from Inna that she had the children in the car and was working on getting their passports completed with their new names.  She met us downstairs where we had a quick reunion with the children together.  Ryan went shopping for treats to give to the children at the orphanage for the birthday party / going away party for Anna and Artem.  I jumped in the car with Inna and the children as the driver took us straight to the passport office.  We had several stops to make going back and forth to two different offices, but after about 3 hours our application for new passports was finally complete.

We brought the children back to our apartment where we had 15 min to get them changed into their new clothes.  The jackets, clothes, shoes, socks, and underwear the children were wearing were placed in a bag to return to the orphanage.

Arriving at the orphanage was a surreal moment.  This was it – their final day there.  They were about to start an adventure into a brand new life.  We delivered the candy and drinks to the workers and they divided it all up onto plates for the children.  Before sitting down to eat, the children from the wing they live in gathered in a circle to perform a birthday tradition.  The children joined hands while Anna sat in a chair in the middle as they moved clockwise singing a traditional song.  Anna then selects a person and that person shares something special about her.  The singing continues, then halted again as Anna selects the next person and so on.  What a beautiful tradition if only we knew what they were saying!  The event finished with the children raising Anna 10 times as she sat in her chair signifying that she has turned 10 years old.

We sat on chairs along the edge of the room with Anna and Artem’s grandmother as we watched them eat their candy at their tables.  At this time, Ryan and I were whisked away to the directors office to complete the final paperwork to remove them from the orphanage.  The director also handed us a collection of their schoolwork and medical records.  We are very fortunate to have received this as it is not common in international adoptions to have the ability to have access to previous medical records.  The director shared with us how difficult the last couple of months have been on the children while we were separated.  It was hard to hear, but we are focused on our great future ahead.

Once finished the children came upstairs with their belongings in hand.  They hugged the director and began saying their goodbyes.  Leaving the orphanage with 2 shopping bags holding all their belongings, mostly books, toys, and clothes we had purchased previously for them plus a few items from their Ukrainian Grandmother.

Artem was excited, meeting with his friends giving them secret handshakes and saying their goodbyes.  Anna, was emotional hugging several of the workers and her friends with a few tears shed.  Grandma was also emotional seeing this final moment of the children leaving the orphanage.  We will be meeting with Grandma a couple of times yet before leaving Khmelnytskyi.

The drive back to the apartment was filled with excitement, emotion, and anticipation for what our future would hold for all of us.  Once we arrived, the children ran with excitement to the apartment door as we entered the elevator.  Opening the apartment door, Anna was thrilled to see the birthday decorations, and the presents awaiting her.

We then went for supper for burgers at a restaurant below our apartment.  After supper, we went back up to the apartment for cake, presents, and games.  Such an amazing feeling finally having the family we always desired and tucking our children into bed for the first time.  We are so blessed!

Blessed By Generosity

As Ryan and I are busy preparing for our final trip to bring the children home, we could not have done all of this without the generous help of others.

While getting the children’s rooms ready, we have had numerous donations come in of beautiful gently used clothing for Anna and Artem.  So much so, that we only needed to buy a handful of items to ensure they have a full wardrobes!

When we arrive at the orphanage to pick up Anna and Artem, we need to bring clothing for them to change into as the orphanage owns all the clothing and they operate out of a shared closet.  All the children share the same clothing and do not have any clothing designated as their own.

When we Face-timed with Anna earlier to show her her new room, she was amazed.  She started to tear up when I started pulling clothing out of her drawers to show her.  It was the first time she recognized that these clothes are all hers.  After 6 years in the orphanage, she will finally have clothing that she can love and cherish as so many little girls do!

The clothing that has come in is in a variety of sizes which will be so helpful as the children grow.  Thank you to everyone who contributed including our neighbours, friends, family, and to the Charach Family for the bags full of clothing donations.  I cannot begin to tell you how much this has helped us and how blessed our children will be from all of your generosity.  Thank you Thank you Thank you!

In addition to the clothing, my work family at Manulife collected money to bless the children with beautiful bikes and an abundance of toys.  Along with this they wrote touching messages in a family album wishing us all the best as we embark parenthood.  I have no words for the love, support, and kindness shown by all Manulife employees who have come alongside this journey with us.  We have done a few media posts for Manulife sharing about the new Adoption Benefits that Manulife is giving us to help support us financially.  One of the many perks of being a Manulife employee.  Here is the link to the last post, this was done prior to our first trip and meeting Anna and Artem.  Stay tuned we will be posting further articles in the near future.

The final blessing we received was just yesterday from A Child Waits Foundation notifying us that the board had approved us for a financial grant.  This money will be so helpful as we pay for the final adoption fees and travel expenses for the next trip to bring Anna and Artem home. 

In Canada, there is not a lot of financial support out there for families wishing to adopt, so the generosity shown by organizations such as A Child Waits Foundation, Manulife Benefits, and the help of family and friends goes beyond measure.

We cannot wait to show Anna and Artem their new rooms filled with books, toys, clothing, and the ability to dream big for their future.  They are so loved by so many people already who haven’t even physically met them.  It truly is a blessing to have this support along this journey. We are eternally grateful.

Charach Family:  Michael, Patti, Sam (15), Carrie (11), and Cassie the 2yr old dog

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.