Andrews Adoption

Home At Last!!!

2007-08-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

We are finally home. The plane ride was long and exhausting, but it feels so good to be back in Canada. You take so much for granted living in a place that has so much. It felt so good to sleep in our own beds, and sit in our own couches and watch English television.
Sorry it took us so long to write an update. It's been an adjustment for everyone(mostly us). Katrina just fits in like she has always been with us. She is a typical two year old- very busy. We are run off our feet, we don't know what happened to the quiet, timid little girl we met in Ukraine. Anyways, she is wonderful and she is learning new words everyday.
Katrina loves our dog Milo very much. They get along well, with them both chasing eachother around the house(with me following close behind).
Thank you to every one for yor emails, warm wishes, and upon our return special gifts for Katrina, they were all greatly appretiated.
In summary, we are so happy we have our daughter home with us so we can love and cherish her in her forever family.

Latest Update

2007-07-11T01:27:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,
Would love to write to you all individually, but just to many of you. Thank you all for your wonderful messages, they really keep our spirit up. We are on day 5 of our 10 day wait, it feels like 10 years. We can't wait to get home and start our new life with Katrina. These are our latest photo's hope you enjoy them as much as we do taking them. Love Pat, Elisabeth, Paul and Katrina.

2007-07-06T05:12:00.000-07:00

We finally have some photos we can share with you. The court went really well and we now have to wait 10 days before we can plan to come home.

Update at last!!

2007-07-04T01:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,
Yes we are all o.k.!! We are in a little village with not many amenities, but as you see we have found an internet cafe so at least we can update you all with our news. Katrina is just wonderful, and learning lots of things every day. We go to a play room at the orphanage and last week she wouldn't play on any thing, and would cry at any noise or new person. Now we have a job to keep her off the play area. She loves the swing, building bricks, going through a rubber tunnel which last week she screamed at now goes in and out all the time with big smiles. She knows Mummy, Daddy and Grandma, and will take a ball to who ever we tell her to go to. Blows kisses to us when we leave and is pleased to see us twice a day. We have an apartment about 20 minutes walk away and pass two supermarkets, but there is little else around. We have to walk 40 minutes to get to this internet cafe and the temperature is always in the 30's. Apart from seeing Katrina it is very boring. The paper work is never ending, we go to court on Friday, and all being well 10 days later she will be ours. Then we have to get her birth certificate changed from Valintyna Sergeigevna Kalynina to Katrina Elisabeth Andrews. Then we face the 12 hour train trip back to Kiev. Then it's getting her Visa from the Canadian Consulate...... then we can come home. It is very hard to ask questions withthe lanquage problems, as it is mostly Russian and some Ukrainian and no ones speaks English here. A couple from Germany are adopting a little girl and we share the play room with them and they speak very good English and told us about this place which has been a big help. Hope to send some photo's soon, Pat Paul, Elisabeth and Katrina.

Saturday June 23-07

2007-06-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

A quick update from Elisabeth, Paul and Pat, relayed by Ken

"We are in Kramatorsk near Donetsk eastern Ukraine and are
involved with some really wonderful people who are helping
us to adopt a gorgeous little girl "Katrina" 2 1/2 yrs, Blond hair,
Blue eyes and a cute little turned up nose.
We are staying in a lovely apartment which is only 20 Min's walk
from the orphanage and have been allowed 2 visits a day which
gives us a super long time with Katrina.
As soon as we can obtain an Internet link we will update the blog
with some wonderful pictures
Thank you for your continued good wishes, thoughts and prayers.
Pat, Paul and Elisabeth "

2007-06-14T01:20:00.000-07:00

Still looking at the sites, we walked 15km to St. Sophia's and paid to go in and walk around the grounds. St. Sophia's is 1500 years old, and is a world heritage site. Old but in beautiful condition! On the way out we found a great gift shop, not full of junk like most of the tourist traps (in Victoria, and Kiev). We then walked on to Independent Square to have a McDonalds!! Yes we know what you are thinking, but it is safe and familiar and we were surprised at how much we all enjoyed it!!!!! Next we walked up to St.Andrews and were not allowed in as we were not wearing head scarves. We looked at some art work on sale on the sidewalks but didn't see anything that we liked. It was a long walk home but we stopped for ice lollies at the Great Golden Gate which is also 1500 years old. The next day we took a drive (recommended by Lesya) to the other side of the city. It was an interesting ride as we went across the Metro Bridge crossing the river Dnipro. We went to a shopping mall which advertised that Marks and Spencer's was there. Very disappointing didn't see anything worth buying. Nice journey seeing the other side of the city, too far to walk, so it was nice having a car ride for a change. Hoping for news any day now.

Still Waiting!!!!

2007-06-10T09:19:00.000-07:00

No news yet, but we are expecting news any day now.

Family on hold

2007-06-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

We are trying to keep busy and settling into a routine. Days consist of shopping and site seeing. We met Toni and Robert for lunch on Tuesday and then went back to their apartment. We had a nice visit and they served us afternoon tea and goodies. They are about 45 minutes walk away from us which is a shame as we can't get to see them very often. Toni's foot is getting better, but she is still on crutches. Our new apartment is nice, very basic and a little smaller than our first one. Yesterday we had a power cut for 8 hours, so we were very happy when the air conditioning and lights came back on. We miss Shona, Darren and Ivanna, but are thrilled that they are home safe and sound. We said our good-byes over deserts at Mario's and to our joy the Wi-Fi was working. The cars park on the sidewalks here, which when you are walking along can be quite scary as they move off and drive straight at you. Some people reserve their parking place by locking a metal triangle that is padlocked when up but can be laid flat when they wish to park there. We have photo's but Mario's Wi-Fi is not running tonight so will post them another time. We are in an Internet cafe across from Mario's so can send this written report but no photos. The heat gets to us a bit, plus we live at the bottom of a very steep hill. It is good that when we start our day the hills are first, because Pat would not make it up them once we are hot and tired. Soon as we get home we kick our shoes and sox off and all three of us flop out on the couch. We will update the Blog as soon as we hear some news.

2007-06-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks

Just a quick sign in before the batery dies. i can't believe we have been here for a week. We have just moved into Shona and Darrens Apt. We are all keeping well and we look forward to hearing from the SDA anytime soon. Thanks to all for looking after the home front.Will write soon

2007-06-01T02:25:00.000-07:00

We are having a great time being tourists. Yesterday we went to Independent Square and met another Canadian couple who came the day after us and had their interview with the same results. Unfortunately poor Toni broke a bone in her foot the next morning and had to go to hospital. She is now on cruches so if we thought we had problems imagine what they are having to deal with. The traffic is very busy, and it sounds like Paris with horns going all the time. When the green light for people to walk the traffic doesn't stop you have to just fight your way across. The roads and side walks are full of holes so you have to watch your step. We walk about 45 minutes to get our groceries and the worst part is we have to buy all our drinking water which is very heavy to carry. The city is wonderful, the sites take your breath away. Some of the builings are lovely. Apartments are next to factories new and old all mixed up together. Our apartment looks very old but inside is very modern. The elevator only work at certain times of the day, so when we come home with all our groceries it is hard walking up 7 floors!!!! The groceries are very reasonable and we can purchase most of anything we want. Can't always read the lables but it is fun trying to work out what we are buying. Lots of fruit, and veg. and lots of wonderful flowers. There are people selling veg. at the side of the street and small venders every where in small huts like a cobbler (the size of a garden shed). The people are dressed really up market. No jeans, but lots of mini skirts and most young girls wear 3"heels so you can hear them coming. Don't know how they can walk on them. The men all wear dress shirts and pants and very pointed shoes, made of eels skin. We where amazed at how many exspensive cars there are, like Mercedes and Bentleys. Most cars look new and we can't work out why they are not all bent and bashed up with the way they all drive. They drivers all push in and overtake so you take your life in your hands. Our driver who takes us to the S.D.A. was suprised that we wanted to put our seatbelts on......... He told us that the fine for speeding was $2.00 We told him about our seatbelt law and he said he thought that was a good idea, but still didn't put his on. No childrens car seats, and no helmets even for motor bikes are seen. With all this, we still feel very comfortable walking and could very easily live here. After working hours people seem to congregate outside their apartments with a bottle of something and sit and chat till bed-time. It is nice and warm without the real heat of the day. We have had great storms with thunder and lightning most nights, and they go on for hours. In the morning every things smells nice and fresh. There are new buildings going up every where, and they are repairing roads and sidewalks. It truly is a lovely city.

On Tuesday we where sitting in a lovely park having an ice cream, when we heard English being spoken so we turned around and met a family from Australia. They asked us to join them. They have been travelling for over two months from Paris by train, and wanted to speak English again. It is great to be able to converse when all day you have had a problem to make yourself understood.

Shona and Darren got their little girl Ivanna on Wednesday, so we had the thrill of meeting her at dinner that night. What a great little treasure she is, we fell in love with her right there. We also had a meal last night with them, we are making the most of their company as they fly home tomorrow and we will surely miss them. Late Saturday we will move into their apartment as it is $20.00 (U.S.) a night cheaper, and a little nearer to town (i.e. Mario's). The Wi-fi has not been working every night we go there which is a shame as Paul has taken over 100 photo's of Kiev and has some great shots. It is a shame that Toni and Robert the other couple are on the other side of town, and it takes us 45 minutes to get there, and because of her foot she can't walk to meet us. They also waiting for another appointment. We are still hoping to get Wi-fi at Mario's so that we can send photos, this gives us a good reason to have Mario's wonderful pizza and dessert. Think this is enough for today, next update soon.

Thursday 31st May 07

2007-05-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

Just to keep you informed Pat, Paul and Elisabeth are all fine and enjoying Kyiv
Unfortunately they are having difficulty in using the local WI-FI connection
and have to walk 2km to a proper internet cafe.
I have been talking to them over the phone and would advise that they will be updating the blog themselves as soon as they can establish an internet link.
They are being looked after extremely well by the agency dealing with their adoption and have made friends with existing and new adopting families from Canada.
Kyiv is a wonderful city with lot's of beautiful buildings and markets, temperature is around the low 30's.
We are all waiting for our next interview before we can advise anymore on the adoption.
Ken (Canada)

2007-05-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were tourists and had a wonderful time with our new friends Shona and Darren. They showed us the way to St. Andrews Cathedral, and a great art market. We liked lots of the pictures but were very good and managed not to buy anything (yet!). Internet access is unreliable, and we are having troubles downloading photos, but hope to be able to do it soon. This is a very beautiful city and each day we are enjoying more. We feel very safe and the people seem friendly. There langauge is very hard but Elisabeth and Paul are doing well.

This morning Elisabeth and Paul had their interview at the S.D.A. and were offered 3 children with health problems. Our facilitator said she will book them another meeting next week. We are of course a little disappointed but will spend the week enjoying this lovely city. We may now go and book to see a ballet or opera, and of course there is a great circus that we have been recomended to see.

2007-05-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,
Here we are safe and sound. Uneventful journey, unless you count the fact that Liz had coffee spilt all over her jeans, had to change at the airport. Then we where told that our tickets had been cancelled, took 10 years off Ken's life, while he sorted it out. Lucky we where early and so they re-booked us. Nice flights, good meals then at Kyiv we found that one of our cases has been lost!!!! All our gifts, and food, my toilet bag (no tooth brush....) any way our apartment is very nice, and our facilitator met us at the airport and so all is well. Our new friends Darren and Shona have been showing us around, and helping us with shopping for water, food, and a new tooth brush!!!! We are now at a pizza cafe with internet conections, so we will sure be coming here quite a lot. Our pizza's are due to arrive any minute so will update you tomorrow, after we have recharged our battery, (ours and the computers). Love to all.

Update

2007-05-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

We have been keeping up with another couple's blog from Saskatchewan, that are also adopting a little girl in Ukraine. They have been there since April 19th. They will be there when we fly out on May 26th. They were originally going to fly home on May 30th, although some paperwork delayed flights. They made some phone calls, and knew we were coming out before they left so we are actually delivering their airplane tickets for them to fly home on June 2nd. They are going to show us some hot spots to eat, internet cafes, and some markets to buy food necessities before they leave. We hope to lodge in the same apartment as them. We get to meet their daughter, and we hope we get the same orphanage as they did because it is in Kyiv.

Intro

2007-04-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

The journey started on February 16th 2005, Paul and Elisabeth announced that they were going to adopt a child. This was wonderful news, and the whole family was very excited. It has now been over two years of a roller coaster ride of paper work; fingerprints, medical records, work references, social workers reports and bank balances. The Paperwork is only good for a year, so in result it had to be updated twice. Then Ukraine closed its adoption program down for the whole of 2006, and so it was with excitement that we celebrated the arrival of 2007. Now all the paper work is at last correct and we have been given a date to be in Ukraine to start the process of adopting a little girl between the age of one to three. Paul's mother Pat, will be joining them on this adventure, while his father Ken, and Elisabeth's parents Sue and Rick, will looking after the home front.