Inside the Orphanage

Now that I have the ability to share video, this is one of my favorite videos from our trip to Ukraine. Unfortunately, the audio is not too clear. This is what the beginning of each of our visits was like. We would come into the orphanage and let Oksana know that we were there to pick up Coy. She would then proceed to go to his room to get him and bring him to us. This is the reception that we got from him most days. Watching this video takes me back there everytime.

Coy starts school on Wednesday. We think he will do fine. He is usually so excited to see Stacey after only having been away from her for just a couple of minutes. It is very sweet to see how well he has bonded with her. He has bonded well with the rest of us too, but especially well with Stacey. At night, he prays for all of us and Grandma. He doesn't say which Grandma, just Grandma. Katie asked him tonight about Grandpa, but he just laughed.

We are planning a welcome home/birthday celebration for Coy on Saturday, September 15. If you are reading this, then you are invited to come. We are going to have lunch for the family on that day and then everyone is welcomed to just drop in and have a piece of cake and share as much time as you can with us anytime on that afternoon or evening. There is no set time and we would like for anyone that can to just drop in. If anyone is still here in the evening, we can order pizza before the football game. We are working on having something for the kids to do and we are hoping for good weather on that day, although we could certainly use the rain. There will be more details to come but please consider coming if you can. We would love to see you, even if you think that you don't know us well enough to come to our house, if you have been reading this, you pretty much know all that there is to know.

Birthdays, School, Out of Town Trips and an experiment

It has been really crazy the last couple of weeks. Last weekend was our anniversary and Caleb's birthday. The week before that was the first day of school for both Caleb and Katie. Last week, I was out of town for work all week. Some of the exciting things that have happened include Stacey and the kids being involved in a wreck. Luckily, everyone was OK. I feel like God was watching over them. Sunday night before I left, I prayed specifically for God to keep them safe while I was gone. It was a very specific prayer. Monday night, Stacey was leading soccer practice for the kids while I was gone and on the way home from Graceland, a bee got in the van and into Stacey's shirt and stung her on the arm. As she was flailing to get rid of the bee, the wheel of the van went off the road and a tree limb busted out the side window and bent the window frame. Luckily, Katie was siting on the driver's side and not the passenger's side. Also, a few feet earlier and it would have busted the window right beside Coy. Stacey kept her composure and avoided over correcting or running further off the road. Our van will be in the shop for a week or so but the main thing is no one got hurt.

I like the picture above that shows Stacey's dad underneath both Katie and Coy while Caleb explains a gift that he got for his birthday. They all like to pile on Grandpa.
This is a picture of the kids on the first day of school. They all seem to have a good time. Coy especially likes to watch for the school bus.

I have tried to add a video to the blog this time. It is from our trip to Marengo Cave. It is typical banter for our family. Coy gave something to Katie and we were trying to get Katie to say "Thank you Coy." Coy and Katie both were trying to say "Thank you Coy." At the end though, they finally get it right and Katie says "Thank you" and Coy says "You're welcome". I don't know what Caleb is doing in the background. Pretty good stuff if you ask me. Please let me know if you were able to download it and watch it.

Too Busy to Write

After a weekend of going to the Creation Museum, Marengo Cave, the Hampton Inn, and Hoosier Forest swimming pool, we have been too busy to post. The kids have done well and are ready to start back to school this week.

The Creation Museum was very neat. I would like to go back one time without the kids to learn more and then tell them what I learned at their own level. It was very crowded and I feel like we just skimmed the surface. Stacey and I were both looking for the "deep" scientific stuff while the kids just wanted to look at stuff. I think it did make an impression on them though.


I wished we had payed more attention to how the caves were formed in the museum so that we could have explained that to the kids as well. Caleb and Katie both said on Saturday that "It is designed to do what it does do and what it does do, it does do well." I guess you would have to know a little something about the Creation Museum to really appreciate it. It was actually on a video that we watched on the way to the museum but it seemed to make an impression on them. Coy liked the bus ride. I think he would live on the bus if we would let him.
We also snuck in a game of putt-putt golf on Saturday night as well.


The kids (especially Caleb) couldn't get over the fact that we were staying in a hotel less than 20 minutes from our home. We went swimming in the hotel 3 times in one nights stay (2 at night and once in the morning) and we all had a big breakfast so it wasn't that bad of a deal. The kids slept pretty well so we didn't really miss out on too much.
Coy has his last 2 doctor's visits on Monday. We are expecting them to turn him loose. He has already started some of his physical therapy again.

On a Mission From God

I can't say that I am a big Blues Brothers fan but I couldn't help but think of that movie when I saw this picture. We have had a pretty busy week but nothing too exciting. The kids have had friends over to play just about everyday this week. Coy is doing really well with his speech and his play. He goes to see a couple of the surgeons on Wednesday of next week and we expect for him to be given a clean bill of health. He doesn't go to see the plastic surgeon until the following week but everything appears to be going well there too.

We did get Caleb and Katie registered for school. They are disappointed that they won't get to ride on the same bus this year as their friends Dave and Lindsay. It is hard to believe that school starts for them in just a week and a half. We got the news just a couple of weeks ago that Katie will be going to full time kindergarten. We were hoping for 1/2 days for her so that she could go to another year of CBS (Community Bible Study) but our school system has secured the funding that allows everyone to go to full day kindergarten. (Previously, 1/2 day was free and full time would cost an additional $1,700.) Katie will probably benefit from full time kindergarten a lot more than Caleb would but we still wished that she could have been in CBS another year.

Caleb helped me to work a Sudoku puzzle tonight before bed. It was just a 1 star but he did most of it himself. Coy can really pedal like a mad man now. He has gotten to where he will pedal the three-wheelers down the "hill" beside our driveway. He really enjoys that. Stacey wanted me to admit that he works on his "help me please" when it is time to pull it back up the hill. He is getting better about this though.

Healthy Children

Well, the hard part is over, we think. Actually, the hard part didn't seem that hard at all. I am sure that if you ask Coy about it, it definitely was not pleasant but we were expecting much worse. The surgeon was able to close his palatte in one surgery. During the pre-op visit, he had warned us that it might require a second surgery since his opening was so wide. I looked in his mouth tonight for the first time and it was amazing. Except for the stitches, it looks like a normal mouth. It is truly amazing. Coy has been amazing too. Other than some minor irritability when his pain medicine runs out, he has been quite the trooper. Since coming home, he has felt well enough to go outside and swing and ride on his big wheel. I figure that any child that is strong enough to survive in an orphanage in Eastern Europe for 2.5 years is more than strong enough to endure minor surgery in the US healthcare system. Also, spending any amount of time at all in a hospital helps me to appreciate our healthy children and how fortunate we are to have such healthy children. Some of it can be attributed to how well Stacey took care of herself both before and while she was pregnant, but the overwhelming majority of it belongs to the grace of God. I don't see how folks with children that are seriously ill can handle the hospital life. I guess if it comes down to that or else, you do whatever you have to do to help your child in any way that you can and you really don't think about anything else. I am ashamed for the times that I have taken our kids health for granted.

Thanks for all of the prayers for Coy. Katie and Caleb prayed for Coy while he was having his surgery and when I called my mom to tell her that the doctor was able to close his mouth with only one surgery, Katie immediately cheered and said, "My prayer has been heard." She is quoting a Bible verse that she learned in CBS "Do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard." She said that she had prayed for Coy to only need one surgery for his pallete, and her prayer (and lots of other prayers) were heard. What a joy it was to tell Katie that the Creator of the Universe heard her prayer and to be able to let her know that he listens to her. Of course, we have to remind her that his answer isn't always yes, but He does hear her, and He does answer her according to His will. It was good for her to be able to see that in a tangible way. Some naysayers may claim that Coy's surgery would have been the same regardless of Katie's prayer to God. I would say bologne. God chose to answer her prayer and I am glad that He did. And I am glad that He hears me tonight when I thank Him for our healthy children, all three of them.

Bike Riding

I guess it is something about kids that attracts bikes to their butts. After starting out slow this summer, our kids have really taken to riding their bikes around the driveway, over to the neighbors driveway, around the house, back around the neighbors, over to the other neighbors, etc. etc. etc. You get the idea. Coy stays on our driveway but he is really improving on the pedaling. When we first got home, he rode everything and walked it with his legs. We assumed that he had never pedaled anything. But by watching the older kids and trying and trying on his own, he has really improved. Our friends gave us a $40 gift certificate to Wal-Mart so we used it to buy Coy a bike that was just his size. He really likes it.

We have had a few bike mishaps but nobody has gotten seriously hurt yet. Just a few scrapes and bruises, which is to be expected. We insist on their helmets but not elbow and knee pads. Caleb has started to ride a bigger bike that uses hand brakes and has gears. His legs are just a little too short to get off of it gracefully but he does a good job of it. Katie uses the basket on her bike to take things that she makes to the neighbors. She likes to give her cards and art works away.
































Coy likes to eat. I think we have mentioned that here already. His pickiness is picking up some. I guess that trait is something that we unintentionally teach our children. Not that he is picky by any means, but he has stopped blindly eating everything in front of his face. He does do a good job of corn on the cob though. Stacey's mom gets THE BEST corn on the cob. All of our kids like it.

Coy's surgery is on Monday. We haven't tried to explain to him what is going to happen. I don't know if there is anyway to explain to a child his age (even without the language barrier) what is about to happen to him. At our pre-op visit on Thursday, the doctor informed us that the hole in the top of his mouth may be too wide to correct in a single surgery. We will be staying at the hospital on Monday night while Caleb and Katie stay with my parents. We have to be at the hospital very early on Monday morning so Caleb and Katie will be going down to Springfield late on Sunday night.

Please pray for Coy and the surgeons. If it is past the 23rd, please pray anyway. I am sure that even after the surgery, that we are going to need all the prayers that we can get.

Looking Back

Believe it or not, we have not taken any pictures yet this week. We did have a fun night on Wednesday night though. I took off to go to Coy's Dr.'s visit and we got out earlier than expected so we came home. We flew kites, went and got ice cream, played tag in the yard, and shot basketball. We used a gift certificate that some friends gave us to buy Coy a bike and a helmet. He is still getting used to pedaling but he likes sitting on it and watching Caleb and Katie ride their bikes.

The people where I work took up a collection and gave Coy a $100 savings bond. Actually they gave us the cash to get him one since we are still working on a SSN for him. They also gave a $100 donation to Hopeful Hearts, which is the ministry that helps orphans in Ukraine and they also help parents to adopt those orphans. They also gave us a photo album to fill up with pictures of our family.

The pictures that I have posted are of the US Embassy in Kyiv. It was less than what I had envisioned. In such a beautiful city, I was expecting the US Embassy to be an impressive building but it reminded me more of a "temporary" building that was made from trailers. There were still lots of people standing outside wanting to get in. The security to get in was pretty tight but the complex was so small that if someone wanted to cause trouble, they could easily do so from the outside.