It'sTime

Hello out there! Well, everyone has heard Sharon's side of of our new family lives and I thought it was time I shared a little information from my point of view.
Ok, both of the kids are doing really well with their English and school work. They have both shown me a thing or two already. Elizabeth is driven. I mean when she sets her mind at a task she will not give up....ever. I think this dogged determination will help her as she finds her way. She is a good athelete and I got the chance to help her a little bit with her Volleyball training. She had problems serving the ball. We worked on her serve and she got better quickly and finally got the chance in a real game and we were all there to see her succeed. You should have seen the smile on that girl's face. It was awesome.

As you may had read already, Michael started playing soccer and yes he is very good. And even though I did not want to coach, I did because I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him. What a blast! Even though I can't take any real credit for his soccer skills it was awesome knowing that was my kid out there. I have to say, you have to understand, that these kids had never worn a uniform and played on a team. And yet, here they were a couple of months removed from their other life learning English, going to a new school, and playing sports on a team. They are remarkable people and I think will be great contributors to American society. They inspire me to look back and that is something I have not done in a long time. My wife is truly a saint.

I've got to finish my update with a food story. First things first. The kids are addicted to BBQ. I don't know how it happened. They love brisket and corn on the cob. We got to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Austin back in October for Michael's birthday. On the way home we were all tired, but we stopped in Elgin at the Southside BBQ and bought a couple of pounds of sausage and brisket. They wrap it in brown paper hot off of the pit. We threw it in the ice chest and drove home as fast as we could. The first thing we did after unloadding the truck was to make some brisket and sausage sandwiches and pounded them down. It's the first time in a long time that I bit my finger eating a sandwich. If anybody gets the chance to stop by Southside BBQ and get some "bite your finger" good BBQ, I recommend it.

Tim

School, Sports and Hurricanes

We had a busy and fun summer. I can't believe that we have been home almost 5 months. The kids started school on August 25th. They both go to the same school so they ride the bus together. Elizabeth tried out for the school volleyball team and made it! She is very excited. She has practice after school every day. Between practice and homework she doesn't have much spare time during the week, but she loves being on the team. Michael is playing soccer. It is his favorite sport and he is very good. When we signed him up to play I asked Tim if he was going to coach the team. He said, "no way - not with my schedule." The second night of practice he came home with an official coach shirt on and I asked him why. He said, "don't ask." He is now the Assistant Coach! When he showed up for the last practice the coach gave him the bag and whistle and told Tim to run the practice because he had a meeting to attend:-). Oh, and his team is the HURRICANES!

Speaking of hurricanes, we just had a visit from Hurricane Ike. All is well here now, but we were a little bit concerned the closer the storm got to Galveston. The winds picked up around 7:00p on Friday night. The sky was a beautiful purple/red/pink color. We stood outside talking to our neighbors as the sun was setting while looking at neighborhood and wondering what the streets would look like in the morning. The storm hit us around 1:00am. It was a blessing because the kids were asleep and they were so tired that they slept right through everything. We lost power around 1:45am. We could hear the wind and rain, but we couldn't see it. I don't know if that was good or bad. At times the wind was so fierce I thought the house would collapse or the windows would bust, but we had no damage. We were very fortunate. All we had to deal with was the inconvenience of no electricity for two days. Luckily, Stephanie got power at her house the day after the storm so we packed up and spent the night with her. The kids loved it! I think they want to move to Aunt Stephanie's! There are so many people in the Houston area that are still without power or have damage to their homes. I can't believe the damage from this storm. Please keep the people of the Houston/Galveston area in your thoughts and prayers.

Michael and Elizabeth are doing very well with their English. Their friends in Ukraine ask them to speak English so they can hear it. The kids call their brother every week (sometimes 2-3 times a week). He is going to a technical school now closer to his hometown. He was able to find his brother and sister and now he visits with them on weekends. I was so happy to hear that he found his siblings. I don't know how, but it's a blessing because he isn't alone anymore. Michael says that he knows how Vadim found their siblings. Every night before dinner someone says a prayer. One night I say it, the next night Michael, and so on. We always ask God to bless Vadim. When Vadim told the kids that he found their brother we couldn't believe it. For the entire 4 years they were in the orphanage no one from their family contacted them or tried to visit. I asked Michael how Vadim found his brother and he said, "God helped him. He answered our prayers."

One of these days Coach Tim will sit down and make an entry on the blog.

Family Photos

Tim & Dean - Birthday Party
Fun with Karina!


Bobby, Hayden, and G-Ma



Thank you Tracey for all of the stuffed animals!



Grandpa with his grandkids.


Which is more wild? Grandma's shirt or Michael's hair?

Father and Son

Busy Summer

The kids just completed their three week summer school session. This was a special session for students learning English. They studied English for 4 hours each day. They really enjoyed their classes. Bobby (our nephew) has been a huge help to us this summer. He stays with the children while we are working. He took them to school and picked them up every day. He also takes them on field trips and swimming. The kids love him!

We call Vadim often. He is at camp until school starts in September. Most of the children in orphanages go to some kind of camp during the summer. He likes receiving our packages and letters and is always interested to hear what we are doing.

We got together with our friends who adopted their daughter from the same orphanage as we did. Our kids lived together for 4 years. They are very good friends and love to see each other. Michael and Karina were in the same class the entire time they were in the orphanage. I'm posting a photo of all three kids.

Our nephew, Stephen, is home for a few days after graduating from his Navy Medic Training. We are very proud of him. He will be stationed in California. Thank goodness he won't be too far from home. I'm posting photos of him with his wife Michelle, and son Hayden.

Tim will post later with comments (probably mostly about food).

Sharon

Summer Fun

The kids are enjoying their summer. They attended their first day camp for a one week session and had a great time. Their two favorite activities are riding their bikes and swimming. I wish I could say they are English and Math, but kids are kids no matter where they come from.

Elizabeth is being tutored in Math and is making very good progress. Her English gets better every day. My favorite Elizabeth saying is when she tells me that she "brushed her teeth, brushed her face, and brushed her hair". Michael has picked up English very fast including; no problem, nice, see ya, whasssup? (thanks to Uncle Bob).

Elizabeth got braces last week. She chose alternating pink colored rubber bands to personalize her braces. The first 3 days she experienced alot of pain, but after that she has been fine. The hard thing for her is that she can't eat some of her favorite foods anymore. No gum, no starburst, no corn on the cob, no gummy bears, no snickers, no nuts. Notice that most of the favorites are candy. She LOVES candy.

Some things we have learned since we got home with the kids:
1) The kids are big helpers. They cleaned all of our silk plants by taking them outside and washing them with the hose.

2) They love to put up groceries. Elizabeth put the fresh corn on the cob in the freezer and the refrigerated lunch meat in the pantry.

3) It doesn't matter what time the kids go to bed they will always get up and go out to the kitchen to get one last drink of water before they go to bed.

4) Elizabeth will drop or break something on a regular basis. Her last incident was at HEB over the 4th of July. She was picking a watermelon and grabbed a big one and dropped it on the floor. It split in two and sprayed our legs. She said, "oh, I'm sorry":-) and put it back and got another one.

5) We can do more in 5 minutes than we thought we could. There isn't any free time in our days anymore:-).

The kids are adjusting well, but we've had a few issues that we are working through. I'll elaborate more on another post. See #5 above:-).

Another couple from our adoption group received their travel date. Congratulations Ann and Keith! They will be traveling to Ukraine in September.

Thanks for keeping up with our family adventure!

Sharon

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Well, we might as well get back to the reality of life in the United States. Let's start with food. When I was in Ukraine I suffered because I couldn't eat what I wanted. But now the tide has turned. First things first. I introduced the children to steak which I cook very well on my grill. On our first BBQ I cooked NY Strip steaks and everyone cried because it was so good. The kids thought it was strange because we told them it was beef because they don't get alot of that in Ukraine. After they ate it I don't think they will ever go back to pork and neither will I.

Since we've been home there have been alot of changes. One of the very best has been coming home from work to my new family. Communication has been one of the biggest barriers. Let me explain. When Michael tries to describe a story to me it sounds like a kung fu movie with physical animation. My favorite thing Elizabeth does is when she says "I love you". It sounds like a drunk woman after last call... "Iluvuuuu". So, I always respond with the same prounciation.

One of the really neat things to see is the children doing things for the first time by themselves. The other is to see how creative they are. Elizabeth makes her own envelopes and knits. And she is the fastest potato peeler with a sharp knife that I've ever seen. She has actually beaten me when I was using a potato peeler which she refuses to use. Michael, on the other hand, draws us pictures and leaves special notes under our pillows at night. He has also corrected me while I am working on anything and everything. It's irritatiing because more than half the time he is right. For example, we were assembling his toy box and he was trying to tell me not to put a face plate on the front of the toy box. I acted like I didn't understand him and screwed it together anyway because Dad knows best. Then as we completed the project I realized he was correct. I had screwed the face plate on backwards.

One of the best things is seeing how well they have fallen in love with our family and friends.

Stay tuned for more action at the Coons house.

Tim

Are You Interested in Hosting a Child in Your Home?

This is a great program! We hosted Michael in January 2007 and now he and his sister are our children. They are having another camp this summer. The information is below.

Host a Ukrainian Orphan

Loving families needed to host Ukrainian orphans during a Summer Camp that will be held here in Houston for 3 weeks beginning July 30, 2008. Orphans will travel here and experience American culture and what it feels like being part of a family.

Although the purpose of this camp is purely an educational and cultural experience for the children, one of the wonderful outcomes that often occur is the adoption of many of these children, as well as an increase in awareness of the plight of older orphans around the world. To learn more, please contact Jyl Cashion 281-890-1324 home office or 832 876-6235 cell

Time is flying!

We've been home for 5 weeks now. I can't believe how fast the weeks have gone by. The kids have been counting the days this week until school it out. Thursday is the last day of school. Michael has one line in the school play on the last day of school. The kids in his class decided on a pirate theme so he will be wearing an eye patch and pirate hat. Stephanie, Kathy, and Mom bought the kids new bicycles. They love them! Michael started riding his bike to school last week. I have been riding my bike with him and waiting while he locks his bike up and walks in to school because he was alittle bit nervous to go by himself. This morning as we were riding to school he stopped at the corner where there are a row of trees on the edge of the school property. He told me that I could watch him ride his bike to school from there and that I could meet him in the same spot after school instead of meeting him as he comes out of the building:-). He has made many friends and his English is amazing. Elizabeth wants to ride her bike to school, but it's too far. They ride around the neighborhood after school. They seem to feel right at home here. That makes us very happy.

Elizabeth has made many friends too. She got invited to another pool party and the past few days she has come home from school with notes from friends asking her to keep in touch over the summer. She isn't speaking much English, but she is understanding more every day. She is an excellent swimmer and would love to be on a swim team.

We talk to V often. He is doing well and would like to come for a visit. I wish it was as simple as purchasing an airline ticket and flying him here, but it's complicated.

There is definitely a learning curve once you get home. Communication is difficult and patience is key. We know how the children feel because we spent over two months in Ukraine where we couldn't communicate well and things were not familiar. We understand that everything here is different and that they are adjusting to a new language and culture. In spite of it, they are doing great!

Thanks for all of your calls, emails, and comments!

Home, Home, Home!

We have been home for almost four weeks now. Both children are in school and like it very much. The children are amazing! They embrace everything with gusto and want to learn English and participate in school. Michael is making new friends every day. He's made so many that he can't remember all of their names so he writes them down in his notebook in Russian so he can tell me. Elizabeth has made many friends too. There is a Ukrainian girl in her class that has been in the US for two years. She speaks English and Russian and has been very good to Elizabeth. They are friends and we look forward to meeting her family. Elizabeth came home from school last week with an invitation to a birthday party. She is always excited to meet new people and try new things.

Thank you for all of the Mother's Day cards and emails! My first Mother's Day was wonderful!

Photos

Most of the photos were taken while we were in Kiev. The top two photos are of V, the children's brother. These were taken at the orphanage. We talk to him often and hope he can come for a visit sometime soon. The second photo on the left is of Elizabeth, Michael, and Karina. Karina is the daughter of our friends who adopted from the same orphanage we did. We spent two weeks with them in Ukraine and enjoyed every minute!