Life is Good!

The kids have started their second year of school. Michael is in sixth grade and Elizabeth is in ninth grade. For the first time in their lives they are going to separate schools. Michael is still in middle school and Elizabeth is in high school. So guess what? They both needed cell phones. This is a first for Elizabeth. She now has her own cell phone. She loves her phone. She is very responsible and as the school year has started with lots of homework - there is no one that works as hard as she does. Now, Michael refuses to ride the bus and only wants to ride his bike; rain or shine. Amazingly, Michael never brings home a book. Their progress reports were excellent. They are both doing well in school. We got to go to both of their open houses at school last week. We can't say enough good things about their schools and their teachers. Excellent programs and teachers!

Michael's birthday is coming up. We are going camping. Our weeks are very busy with homework, cooking, and family living and we love every second of it. Elizabeth is learning to drive.....SCARY. Dad has taken on the challenge and Elizabeth is doing pretty good. As a father I only wish they still had cars with bench seats so I could get my darn foot on the brake. Every lesson starts with an apology and a kiss in case Dad goes western.

Michael is playing soccer again. He moved up this year to U14 and the kids are a little bigger, but Michael is holding his own. He gets to play forward this year and he's taken a shot on goal in every game.
Tim

We get together with the adoption group often. The kids always look forward to it! They have made friends at school, but they will always have a special connection with their friends from Ukraine. We had a skating party and a birthday party at the skating rink. The kids love to skate! It's great because it's something they can all do together. We visited Mom and Dad over Labor Day weekend. The kids love to go to Grandma and Grandpa's. They have cousins that live near G & G and they really look forward to seeing them too. It's heartwarming to watch them with their cousins, aunts and uncles, and G & G.

We talk to their brother often. He is doing well. He is continuing to study welding and transportation. He is a very responsible young man and we hope that he can come for a visit again soon.

Sharon

What a Year!

This past year flew by. We were home for one year as of the end of April. Elizabeth and Michael have almost completed one year in school and are doing very well. Michael made the honor roll the last reporting period. Elizabeth has passed all of her tests and will be going to the 9th grade next year.

We spent Spring Break with Mom and Dad in Georgetown. The kids love being at Grandma and Grandpa's and visiting with their cousins. They enjoyed meeting more relatives and can't believe how many aunt's, uncle's and cousins they have:-).

I explained to the kids that the tradition in Texas is to take photos in the bluebonnets during Spring time. Elizabeth did not want to stop and take pictures and she really did not want to sit in a field of bluebonnets, but I insisted. The photos say it all. Michael, on the other hand, thought it would be fun. He couldn't wait to get in the bluebonnets and let me snap away. He thought it was fun to roll down the hill and get dirty. Typical boy.

Elizabeth has made friends and they all went to the middle school dance together and had a great time. She also signed up for the end of the year Beach Bash swimming party for her grade. Michael has made friends too and has enjoyed playing soccer. His team went to the finals, but came in second. He is looking forward to his choir's end of the year swim party at Schlitterbahn.

We get together with our adoption group often. All 5 families have completed adoptions. The kids really enjoy our get-togethers. The Butchee's are going back to Ukraine to adopt T. They may be leaving for Ukraine at the end of this month!

We celebrated Elizabeth's 15th birthday in March. Thank you to everyone for coming and giving her so many wonderful gifts! She loved having the whole birthday experience. Family, friends, cake and ice cream, and presents! You all made it so special for her. Now that she is 15 Tim has the fun job of teaching her to drive.

I know Tim has alot to add. I'm sure it will have something to do with food. He will do an update later this weekend. Thank you for checking in and we look forward to your comments.

Sharon

Our First Christmas as a Family

We celebrated our first Christmas together. It was even more special because Vadim, the children's brother, was able to spend Christmas with us. He came with a group of kids through a hosting program and was here for 2 1/2 weeks. It was his first time to fly and his first trip to the USA. He quickly became part of the family. Michael had two Christmas choir performances. Elizabeth made poster sized Christmas cards. The kids loved picking out the perfect Christmas tree and decorating it. All of the kids received so many wonderful gifts from family and friends.

Mom and Dad drove in from Austin to spend the holidays with us. Mom brought each child a jar full of coins. They poured the coins on the table and started counting. Mom made her famous strawberry cake and the kids loved it! I think Vadim ate it for breakfast most days. If you look closely at the picture of Mom, Michael and Vadim, you will see $$ in Michael's eyes!

Our adoption group got together several times over the holidays. We all met one weekend to celebrate Yaroslav's birthday. Natalie and Bill invited everyone over to their house for hamburgers, hot dogs, and cake. There were over 20 people there! Two families who adopted from Svitlana's orphanage drove in from Dallas to surprise Svitlana. Svitlana was truly touched to see all of "her kids" so happy, healthy, and thriving with their new families. Many happy tears were shed as old friends saw each other for the first time in over a year. We had a Ukrainian Celebration one day where everyone brought Ukrainian food. Everyone had a great time and the food was delicious.

Since we are talking about food I will end with this. Vadim arrived wearing a brand new pair of jeans that he bought for the trip to America. He only wore them the day he arrived because my friend June had given me several pairs of her son's jeans that fit Vadim perfectly and he ended up wearing them while he was here. He wanted to wear his Ukraine jeans home so he did not pack them. When he got up to get dressed the morning of the flight he put the jeans on and he could barely button them. He gained some weight while he was here :-). I swear he was an inch taller when he left too. It's amazing what good nutrition (and tons of Christmas candy, Grandma's cake, and Fanta)and love does for a growing boy.