Greg and Arlene's Blog

New Blog

2007-01-20T08:38:00.000-09:00

Please see our new blog at http://thealaskacarpenters.blogspot.com/
All updates will be to the new blog, so please change your bookmark (if desired).
Thank you.

A New Photo

2006-11-11T09:14:00.000-09:00

Andrew & Grandma Celebrate Same Birthdates

2006-11-06T20:53:00.000-09:00

Well November 5th just came so quickly but both Andrew and Grandma Gloria share their same month and day of births so to both of them a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! For Grandma Gloria the family members pitched in dollars and got her a new ceiling fan light for their home in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Sister-in-law Kim put the whole thing together so the rest of us could contribute and for that we are grateful.

Andrew wanted new tennis shoes as he is out-growing just about evrything he has....so as he kept telling us could we please consider a pair of RED Etnies shoes.
So Greg being the WONDERFUL father he is - ordered him a pair as that was the only thing on his birthday list. I probably will never share this with Andrew nor would he even understand but the new shoes look just like the ones that a very famous clown by the name of Emmeit Kelly used to wear when I was a kid.

Marina and Andrew both enjoyed the Halloween cards they recieved from their grandparents, uncles and aunts. This was so overwhelming for them but love the idea of having real family members AND cousins too......a lot different than Ukraine.

Today the newspaper in our town is doing an article on adoption and the children are featured in the upcoming issue complete with pictures in Ukraine as well as after they arrived in Seward. Tonight in observance of National Adoption Awareness Month we attended with the children a special presentation in our city council meeting where the mayor of Seward presented a Seward Procolation for them and they were featured on television here in town. Marina was all a dither over that!

Thanks to you who visit our site and HAPPY THANKSGIVING...from all of us!

A SPECIAL VISITOR

2006-10-24T12:10:00.000-08:00

This past week we had a very special visitor come to our town to visit Marina and Andrew. Lt. Governor Loren Leman and his lovely wife, Carolyn of Alaska spent about 4 hours between our home and the local school for a volleyvall tournament in which their daughter, Nicole was a
team member. Marina had the biggest smile on her face when the Lt. Governor greeted her in Russian and then informed her that he is from Russian ancestory too. That is all it took to 'break the ice' as we say here and it was the beginning of a wonderful afternoon for the family and the Lemans. We served coffee and tea in the original cups and saucers that Andrew and Marina had given to us as gifts from the orphanage and the children were presented a signed book on the Alaska Constitution from the Lt. Governor, a picture of their daughter Nicole and an official Alaska state engraved pencil for Andrew. We were then invited to stop by the Lt. Govenor's office in Juneau, Alaska, our state capital, on our way back from visiting the grandparents and family at Christmas.

October News

2006-10-12T20:03:00.000-08:00

We had a final bonfire of the season last week as Seward is getting ready.....we thought for winter BUT THEN unusually large amounts of rain fell and our town was designated a disaster area with flooding. We are okay....but others have many feet of water in their homes. The Red Cross came in and has set up emergency shelters but our property is completely safe. Took Marina around in the truck the other day to assess our neighbors damage and she was VERY happy to return home to a high and dry safe home. Marina has been playing soccer for the elementary school here and is looking forward to basketball season.

Andrew is on a five day school schedule also even though he is in a different educational campus at present. He is learning the fine art of the American way of playing ping-pong and is enjoying that game almost daily after finishing his homework. His daily work at school has it's ups and downs but when he applies himself he is almost hard to beat. Hope the weather continues to stay mild for Andrew's sake so he can still kick the soccerball around outside until freeze-up!

More later but thanks to you who stop by this blog to check on the family!

Major Family Adjustment

2006-09-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

As everyone knows, life is always full of surprises....and so it is for some of us experiencing the inclusion of new family members to our households. Marina and Andrew have come a long way to be part of the Carpenter Clan and for that we are so grateful. This past week it was discovered that Andrew will need some additional help in behavior modification and will be recieiving therapy while he is in a special residence working with professionals qualified to assist children in post-adoption concerns. We all miss him so much but look forward to seeing him progress
thru this part of life on a more positive note.

Meanwhile, Marina is coming right along with her adjustments to new friends, church, school and of course her sports. She is a favorite at school and the children seem
to be drawn to her as she is such a vibrant, energetic and compassionate young lady.
At her last physical checkup she has grown taller and gained a few pounds (which is a good thing). She has gone from a size 10 girls to a 12-14 in the last few months!
Tonight, Marina is having a few of her girlfriends from school over for a 'sleep-over' and is pretty excited about all this....Wow....hope we ALL can get at least a few hours of sleep tonight!!! EArplugs will help for Greg and me.

Alaska is starting to get ready for its winter and so is Marina. Warmer clothes and
boots are all lined up in her new bedroom which we are remodeling for her. Thanks for visiting us again on this blog!

Soccer, Homework, Visiting grandparents

2006-09-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

Another busy period has just past and more busy days ahead. Andrew and Marina's grandparents from Minnesota plus one of their uncles and aunts visited this last week and brought many, many presents for them....very lucky children! Marina has grown about 2 inches taller and gained about 8 lbs since returning here from Ukraine.
She attended her first dance at the youth center last week and danced with a boy. She looked so pretty when she got ready to go and a little anxious. When we picked her up after the dance she was beaming from ear to ear and had made many more friends and told us all about her 'first' boy-girl dance. She has such a beautiful smile when she is sooooo happy!

Andrew is busy each day after school with soccer and plays for his school. He and papa went to his first 'away-game' yesterday and even though Andrew's school didn't quite win the game - they learned a lot and plan to do even better next game. I baked a lot of chocolate chip cookies for the team and Andrew and papa sampled a lot of them I am sure. Andrew is having to really work hard on his homework and is trying to settle in to concentrating at school. He has never had parents watching his grades and helping him to do better. There are many behavior challenges for him at school and is learning that all his 'joking' doesn't always fit into an academic situation....so we are working with him on that.

English classes still continue for both children and Marina is doing a lot better. Since she is divided from Andrew more and more she is actually developing her own personality and becoming her own person....this is so important as she is finally feeling better about herself and is so loving and happy. Quite a 'social butterfly'.

We are doing chores today in order to get ready for winter. Right now Marina is playing with the two girls next door and Andrew is watching NASCAR racing with papa on cable tv. We went to church this morning as a family and had refresments afterwards at the church. Next month they start CCD at Sacred Heart CAtholic Church so along with school, church, sports, friends and fun there is not much time to sit around idle. More later.....hope everyone is as happy as we are!! Thanks for visiting us.

School Has Started for Marina and Andrew

2006-08-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

Summer is winding down and school started yesterday here in our little town of Seward. A big day for Marina who was excited to see some of her friends she met just before school let out for the summer when we all returned from Ukraine. Andrew is in the new middle school - which is more like a private school - as it has a small population of 7th and 8th graders. Soccer practice starts today with his first game happening next Friday when the grandparents arrive from Minnesota. Marina will have soccer starting tin the elementary in early September and will be happy to see that day arrive. Right now they are enjoying riding their new scooter on the bike path which goes for several miles right in front of our house on the waterfront. Getting to bed on time each night is still a project for all of us but rapidly the Alaska daylight of summer is becoming more like the 'lower 48' and it is no longer sun shining at 10-11 pm.... More later then...thanks for stopping by our blog for a visit!

Community Celebration for our Children!

2006-08-17T18:34:00.000-08:00

It was like Christmas in our little town of Seward recently when various members of the community decided to have a Celebration party for Marina and Andrew. Posters were placed around town, the television scanner announced the event and various telephone call lists were utilized to invite everyone to the party. There were many games, gifts and good food. Two beautiful quilts were raffled to those attending and we have June Fowler of Anchorage to thank for that......they were absolutely beautiful and everyone hoped to be the winner....but alas...we all just had to comfort our sorrows with another piece of one of the several uniquely decorated cakes!

Tomorrow is the last day of summer camp for the children and they really enjoyed all the activities each day. They never had to stay over night while at camp as it was held right here in Seward Monday thru Friday 9-5 pm so they had a chance to meet many kids and share in many activities for their age-class.

Marina and Andrew have been working with an English Tutor on Sundays after mass and will complete this part of their summertime efforts in English but will both have ESL during the school year as there is funding for that at this school campus.

Marina will be in a 4th-5th combined class and Andrew will be in middle school as a 7th grader...hopefully. Andrew is a bit head-strong and likes to be the center of attention so we are expecting he will learn there is a certain 'pecking'order that the will have to tolerate at school in order to get along in a new school and new culture. As for Marina, she really needs to be on her own a bit more from her brother, so with Andrew going on into middle school and into a completely different building ( a block away) she will be able to have her own identity - and we notice a very positive difference when she has to fend for herself....she actually likes making decisions. Such a different culture they have come from where the male is very dominant.

Looking forward to Grandpa and Grandma Carpenter coming for a visit along with some other surprise guests....All for now.

Some Up's and Down's Today!

2006-07-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

Marina learned today the bad effects of playing with fire. Shortly before leaving for soccer practice a visit to the bathroom was made and she 'discovered' a scented candle which was lit by mama a few minutes earlier. She found that when one puts paper into a candle bowl....it ignites.....Wow!!!!! Shortly after she ran out of the house for the car where papa was waiting, the smell of smoke and nylon drifted by my nose. As I followed the odor very quickly discovered the charred remains of paper in the wastepaper basket and a charred scorched bathroom carpet....not a large scorch but large enough to have been a real safety issue had we ALL been out the door to soccer. Later, after showing Marina the damage and explained what could have happened she understood the ramifications and will not 'experiment' with fire.

Andrew had his share of a 'learning experience' when he was not allowed to go to the school swimming pool, for one day, with the rest of the youth summer camp due to inappropriate behavior when he got a little too 'testy' with pushing and shoving another student with whom he felt was 'picking' on him......sooooooooo, Greg picked him up from summer camp and explained that you don't push, shove, or ever hit another person over a disagrement on an issue...(especially a girl).... After a little 'time out' at home he returned the next day to summer day camp with an 'adjusted attitude and a smile on his face.

So...as each day passes we all learn and experience things together and are doing pretty darn well. Both children are learning more and more English each day and working very well with their tutors. A-men.

Marina & Andrew celebrate July 4th

2006-07-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

Learning about the 4th of July in America was quite an education and fun time for the children. Even though we explained (we thought) that there would be a fireworks display over the bay at midnight; that didn't keep things from not being too clear to the children as far as what is meant by 'fireworks'. Andrew woke up out of a sleep and thought we were being 'invaded' by terrorists as he heard what he thought was a lot of guns...but we assured him once again that some Americans celebrate America's birthday in this manner. He then looked quite relieved and went back to bed. For the holiday 'spirit' Andrew got into the festivities by joining some of our other local children who sprayed their hair green and also their faces. Ugh what a scarey thing to see on your children. He got the reaction he wanted!

Marina and mama have been working on word games and try to find words within words. Also learning to read and pronouce the months of the year. She is doing very well on her language skills and is using more phrases now. In order for her to learn more communication skills with mama and papa, the children speak only English after 6 pm daily....at least in our presence. Marina has depended on Andrew to be her translator and now is learning to depend on her own speech and ideas thus allowing her to develop her own unique personality.

Last week we took the children out on a dog cart ride and had a blast! This is a cart used for training sled dogs for the famous Ididarod Race held yearly in Alaska.
Andrew and Marina got to sit in the front seat directly behind the 13 dogs in the team and had the excitement of riding thru some of the trails in the woods. Greg and I rode right behind them so it was a family time we all enjoyed. After the ride Marina and Andrew got to hold some of the little puppies who were born recently and most likely one day will be pulling sled too. A great day....!!!! More later.

A Fun Bay Cruise

2006-06-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

PaPa's Birthday

2006-06-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is papa's (Greg) birthday and we just found out that Andrew and Marina had no idea of what a 'surprise birthday' party is supposed to be.....so they leaned over the dining room table and said, "Papa you are going to have a surprise birthday party on your birthday tomorrow when we go to the restaurant". Well, that was quite a suprise for the rest of us EVEN before it was to be a suprise for Greg! All this made for auite a bit of table chatter over the matter and at least we had a good laugh over it.

The children have been learning to play American baseball with the new baseball and bat we bought the other day for them. Andrew likes it so much that it may one day give his soccer 'a run for it'! Running around to all the bases is quite easy for the children but quite a challenge for yours truly.....but I do a good job at cheering so Andrew says. Papa really gets the workout. This afternoon they went to a local soccer fun day and were completely garbed in their soccer gear. I thought they would freeze but with all the running they do - they kept quite warm.

Andrew and Marina are half way through their month of summer school and liking the opportunity to continue to make good friends here. They only have a 3 hour day at school and then home again to ride bikes, do special projects or just enjoy being kids. Marina has really learned how to groom our old St. Bernard dog named Sim and they both really enjoy each other.

Both children are learning new ways of doing things here in America and are trying their best. We all are doing our best and the ups and downs of new rules, new places, new foods have all taken their toll at times; but they are coming along and believe it or not....Greg and I are too!!! It is not an easy task but really is a challenge each day to see what new adventure is going to come our way. We will let you all know WHEN we make it!!!

JUNE IS BUSTING OUT ALL OVER

2006-06-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

The children are well into the activities of our local area and we are doing are best to try and keep up with them! Having a tutor for learning English is so important and know that our daughter is adapting so much better now that she has an even better 'grip' on her English. Turning 10 years old for her on Mother's Day was a real learning experience as she had never really had attention focused on her as an
individual and immediately wanted to give away (or share) everything she received as a present. We explained to her that it is perfectly okay to wear or play with her gifts. Apparently at the orphanage being 'special' on your birthday was an unknown. We downplayed the Mother's Day part as that would have been truly confusing to her; however our former translator has advised us that Ukraine is now recognizing Mother's Day as somewhat of a holiday along with the many other days of observance Ukraine has.

Our son is blending right into the community and loves to ride his bike, play pool and shuffleboard and of course he and his sister enjoy soccer and basketball. Next month they will be involved in some of these sport camps along with other community activities.

They are gradually learning more about Respect toward others; acceptable behavior and that everyone in America doesn't own Humvee's. Now that we are all through the 'honeymoon period' and feeling the attachment and bonding process taking hold a little more every day...we can now see the positiveness of Hosting Programs training
methods being given to well-meaning Host families who in some cases (without realizing ramifications)end up fostering a fantasy of these children being adopted by them. It happened to our children and now they are acceptive of the fact that we are not 'sending them back' again to the orphanage. So, all in all, very glad better training methods will be available for future hosting couples.

We really miss our friends, Jerry and Jennifer with whom we shared our common ups and downs while we were all in Ukraine together. They indeed have a beautiful daughter also.

Another photo

2006-05-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

Here is one of our favorite pictures. It was taken just before our court hearing in Berezan, Ukraine.
Things are going well here at home; Andrew and Marina are enrolled in school and fitting in nicely. We'll also have them take summer school so they can work on their English for next year's regular classes. No major behaviour issues as of yet, "knock on wood"!

Home Sweet Home

2006-04-27T08:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry we haven't posted recently, but we've been a little busy getting our lives back to "normal" after our journey. Today we get the children registered for school which they will start on Tuesday. We have decided to put Andrew in 6th grade for the rest of this year so he can start meeting his classmates for next year in 7th grade. Marina will be probably be in 4th grade for the end of this year and next. The school staff will help us decide what eventual grades the children will end up in.
We've got dental appointments set up for Monday, and doctor exams on Wednesday.
I really felt nervous sending the kids passports to the Ukranian Consulate for their registration, but then realized that they would not be travelling out of the country for the forseeable future. I hope we don't need them for anything until they are returned! We'll try to be better at posting once things settle down a bit.

A Note From Amsterdam

2006-04-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

We are on our way home! We arrived in Amsterdam at 7:30 last night and have a flight leaving for the U.S. at 1:15 this afternoon. All of us are anxious to get to Alaska and start that part of our lives together. Can't wait to hear TV in English again!

2006-04-20T12:48:00.000-08:00

2006-04-15T02:03:00.000-08:00

Heading Home (We think)

2006-04-03T02:02:00.000-08:00

It now is looking like we can come home on April 20. We made the reservations today with KLM here in Kiev, with the option to move them if necessary. We hope we can move them up, but we arn't sure at this point. Regardless, April 20 should be the latest.

The BIG Day!!

2006-03-30T04:58:00.000-09:00

It's official: tomorrow we go to court to make the adoption happen! Our court time is 3:00, so it will be a long wait during the day. Please wish us luck, and keep us in your thoughts and prayers. More after the court hearing.

Went to Court (kind of)

2006-03-25T00:01:00.000-09:00

We had a meeting with the local judge yesterday where we had hoped to submit our petition for a court hearing on the adoption. He asked for some minor changes, so we will try again on Monday. We are really hoping we can get the hearing next Friday (3/31), but won't know for sure until after our re-submission of the petition on Monday. Watch for the update.

Waiting for the Court Date

2006-03-20T22:48:00.000-09:00

We are now in a waiting pattern for our court date. We hope to get a "Synopsis" tomorrow which is required for applying for the date so that will be a big step when it happens. Jerry and Jennifer are supposed to arrive in Kiev today for their appointment on Thursday so we look forward to meeting them!

Getting to Know Each Other

2006-03-16T00:48:00.000-09:00

We have been visiting Andryi and Maryna every day and loving it!! They are starting to work on their English in preparation for their new lives with us. On a typical visit we usually play some games, toss around a small soccer ball, and use the translator on the computer to ask (and answer) each other questions. Our bond is growing stronger every time we are together.

Found Great Kids!

2006-03-13T20:16:00.000-09:00

Yesterday was an incredible day! The children we met (Andrev and Marina) are wonderful!! Arlene and I both feel that these are the children that are meant for us to adopt. Today we will return with a doctor who specializes in evaluating children raised in orphanages just to make sure that we know everything about these kids that we have to. They don't appear to have any medical issues, but we must be certain. Can't wait to be with them again!

Big Day Tomorrow

2006-03-12T01:51:00.000-09:00

Tomorrow (Monday) we go to an orphanage about 1-1/2 hours from Kiev to meet a brother(13) and sister(10) who we were referred to from the NAC. This will be our second referral as the children we visited on our first referral had some extended family members that we were told could make an adoption difficult. It will be a restless sleep tonight as we look forward to this next opportunity to find our new children!
Please wish us luck, and we'll try to get an update on the Blog after the meeting.

An Update

2006-03-04T00:35:00.000-09:00

Yesterday we went to an orphanage a couple of hours away to see a sibling group of two ages 9 and 11. Unfortunately, there was a possibility that an extended family member of the kids might "contest" an adoption of them so we returned to try again. On Monday our facilitator willsubmit our request for another referral to visit a brother and sister in an Internat about an hour away. Wish us luck!

Getting Close Now

2006-02-22T17:02:00.000-09:00

Whew! We have been running steady since getting the word on our appointment. Our flight is booked, an apartment has been reserved for us in Kiev, our facilitator Inna picked up our Letter of Invitation today, and the final touches on the documents are nearly finished. I may be able to finally get a full nights sleep tonight... we'll see. Our flight leaves Anchorage on Sunday evening, so we are literally hours away.

Great News!

2006-02-19T09:44:00.000-09:00

When we checked our e-mail yesterday we got the news we have been waiting for - our appointment with the NAC is March 2! Wow, that doesn't give us much time to prepare, but I guess we've been preparing for two years now. We'll post more information as we get it.
Please keep us in your thoughts!

Good News

2006-02-06T07:33:00.000-09:00

The law has been signed! Adoptions are once again being processed at the NAC, and we hope to get our appointment date shortly. Our only concern is that they give us adequate time to get our things together for the trip. We'll post the news as soon as we hear it.

The Latest

2006-01-29T09:54:00.000-09:00

Sorry we haven't posted much recently, but there's not a lot to say. We are awaiting the passing of a law in Ukraine which will re-open the National Adoption Center for processing adoptions. In the meantime, we've been updating some of our documents that either had, or were about to expire. Our translator Inna is hopefull that things will get moving again within a couple of weeks. All we can do is keep a good attitude about it all. Keep those positive thoughts coming!

Candles to Minnesota

2005-12-22T12:34:00.000-09:00

Greg and I are off and trotting on our Candles For Kids fundraiser! We are lucky enough to have wonderful family and friends back in Minnesota who have made a donation to the fundraiser and are recipients of the little 'Flickering Igloo' candles made right here in Alaska. Wow - they have a fantastic fragrance like an
Alaskan Pine tree.

All donations will be used to purchased a well-needed item in one of the orphanges we will visit to locate our children. A 'very-little' goes a 'long-way' in Ukraine so we hope to make a difference in some of their lives with everyone's help.

We are staying busy getting rooms ready for the children and doing just plain old housekeeping in order to be organized and ready for when our travel date arrives...

Christmas Guests

2005-12-22T10:14:00.000-09:00

Comments Now Possible

2005-12-17T08:15:00.000-09:00

Oops! I had the wrong setting selected for allowing comments to be added to Posts. I think I've got the problem fixed now so please feel free to leave your thoughts. You will still haqve to re-type the anti spam word that appears during the posting process, but you won't have to enter a user name and password anymore. Sorry about the confusion.

More info on "Candles for kids"

2005-11-21T09:37:00.000-09:00

We are planning to take many of our candles with us when we fly into Minneapolis for a week with our family. One nice thing about these candles is that the room can have the fragrance of a Christmas tree just by lighting one of the candles...even before one puts up a fresh tree in the living room. Kinda nice and SO SPECIAL for the children who will benefit from the proceeds in one of the orphanges in Ukraine.

Greg and I will mail these to any address in the United States via First Class mail unless requested otherwise. Each candle (as the flyer shows on this blog)is made in Alaska and comes in a secure case with twist-off top suitable for travel.

The American Legion in Seward presented the Toys for Tots Auction this past weekend and we were able to have the winning bid on a Carhart childs jacket so that will be used by one of the chldren, I am sure, when we return home from Ukraine. Most of the children are smaller for their age so if it is too big they will hopefully grow into it after I get a chance to try out my favorite recipees on them!

Only 9 more days until December and for the families waiting for their Dec-Jan letter to arrive from the NAC; this is when we all start 'stalking' the mailman, so to speak...The next letters we recieve give the ACTUAL appointment date in Ukraine.
Hey....everyone....please feel free to leave a comment or two on this blog; we would love to hear from ya all!

Our Fundraising Candles

2005-11-19T08:20:00.000-09:00

CANDLES FOR KIDS

2005-11-18T13:46:00.000-09:00

“CANDLES FOR KIDS”
A fundraising program by Greg and Arlene Carpenter to assist kids in an orphanage in Ukraine.

(image placeholder)

THE CANDLES ARE:

HAND CRAFTED IN ALASKA

MADE OF NATURAL SOY WAX

SCENTED WITH ALASKAN WHITE PINE FRAGRANCE (SMELLS JUST LIKE A FRESHLY CUT CHRISTMAS TREE!)

PACKAGED IN UNBREAKABLE TINS

DESIGNED TO BURN FOR ABOUT 20 HOURS

GREAT AS PORTABLE AIR FRESHENERS

PRICE IS $10 EACH

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Another email from our Translator, Inna!

2005-11-17T14:05:00.000-09:00

Well gang....Inna made it thru the line at the NAC and was able to speak directly to the NAC director and discussed the February appointment instead of after March and now it looks like the AC is going to try to get us in during February...but then we know that what really will take place will be in the infamous 'Dec-Jan letter' many of us are waiting for. Those of us who made the deadline before Sept 20th cut-off with our dossiers get to have our appointments now it seems after March 2006 but luckily Inna knows that we would have to shut our business down completely to be in Ukraine after June so we are very grateful the NAC director took this in to account.
NOW we will continue to pray and keep busy with all the planning.

We are going to take time out and burn up a few of our west coast airmiles and visit the folks for a week in early December back in Minneapolis. Hard to get flights out of Alaska at holiday time so will have an early Christmas with them. Luckily, it only will cost us $10 each to fly on our AlaskaAirlines award miles - so can't beat that deal. Wish we could have used it toward the adoption fares but Alaska Airlines doesn't offer that opportunity...so we are grateful in any case to see the folks.

"ONLY YOU"

2005-11-14T20:08:00.001-09:00

Greg and I have been trying to keep busy enjoying some of our hobbies while we await the A-C-T-U-A-L date of our travel to Ukraine. Yup, that's us singing a tune titled "Only You" at a local get-together here in our hometown. Actually, Greg has a great singing voice (although very modest about it) so he really can make an amateur duet partner sound somewhat acceptable. I would rather stick with playing piano most of the time but it's very hard to 'pack' one around with us!

Our translator in Ukraine is spending a lot of time at the NAC (National Adoption Center)on our behalf lately trying to provide the Adoption Center with all the various paperwork needed. Many of her hours are spent in 'line' waiting to speak to officials regarding her various clients' options for appointment times. We last heard from her 5 days ago as she had to have more important information from us for an early Friday trip to the NAC....so as we have said before; we are pleased that she is there for us as neither Greg or I would get too far with our Russian/Ukrainian-Minnesota/Alaska drawls about now. Yes, we are both reading and trying to say enough Russian/Ukraine words in order to at least find our way back and forth to the most important places we have to be in Ukraine....How am I ever going to get Greg past the McDonalds in Kiev...I think he will always be able to say,"HAMBURGER" in any language he ever learns. Yes, I know I am picking on him but he can handle it! I, however, am looking forward to all the vegetables and soups which are popular there.

So as this day closes, we are hoping to hear from Inna (our translator) soon and yes we are awaiting any email from Ukraine with great excitement. All for this time.

"Singing for Friends"

2005-11-13T16:09:00.000-09:00

MORE GREAT NEWS!

2005-11-09T18:41:00.000-09:00

Today we heard from our translator, Inna, in Ukraine. Things are getting narrowed down a bit as to our actual, real, bonafide date for travel. The NAC is allowing the families who returned from Ukraine last Fall without children to reschedule and come back to Ukraine during the months of January, February and March. Now that the NAC is in the midst of reorganization; we will know most likely in a few days WHICH
date they have secured for us. We acknowledged their request to have even later travel dates available so hope now it is in April. It looks like Inna is moving right along on things at this very moment and we even heard from Dr. Carol Albers saying they are getting sooooo excited for us....so things are moving toward our goal again.....Whew! More news in 48 hours.

Greg and Arlene with young Isaac on a visit

2005-11-03T08:21:00.000-09:00

Word from Dr. Yuri in Ukraine

2005-11-01T08:55:00.000-09:00

A nice way to enter the month of November indeed. This morning we had email from Dr. Yuri Bezdverny, MD.;Ph.D who will accept us as his client for our child/children as soon as we are in Ukraine. Dr. 'Yuri' speaks fluent English; will travel with us to exam our children in the orphange and comes with the highest credentials within the American and Ukraine Embassies. This is truly one of our major steps forward in being able to have the assistance of such a respected Ukrainian doctor who is very familiar with medical or psychological concerns involving children adopted from the orphanages. As soon as our children are located; they will become his patients and they will be given complete exams before leaving the orphanage. Later they will be again be examined by American doctors in Ukraine as required by US Immigration and Citizenship. When the children step off the plane on to American soil; they are immediately American citizens and will not have to go thru anything else to beome Americans. They will already have as their last names, "Carpenter"...the middle names most likely will be their Ukrainian first names and their first names will be of their choosing to most likely be more 'user-friendly' as Americans. They will have dual citizenship (lucky, eh?) Most likely they will speak Russian (ya bettcha, Greg and I are 'boning' up on the language....thanks for computer translators).....

This is the month to be 'thankful' and....for that...we are. Back to our daily list of things to do. More later..."Do pobachennya/Dasvidanya" (These are our two token words....first in Ukrainian then Russian....translated means "Goodbye") Greg & Arlene

Looks like Jan-Feb to NAC

2005-10-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

Nothing is for sure....yet. Have been following the posts from other families awaiting word on their travel dates and it seems the NAC has sent letters out most recently (we're waiting) to many of us who have been 'registered' around the same time; stating that our travel times will most likely point to Jan-Feb. Hopefully, we will get our letter this week as another couple who registered days before us recieved their letter on Oct. 22nd. Then, of course, NAC, often does things in spurts (not to different than our government on paperwork) and one might get a letter saying to be ready in 10 days. Whatever happens, we go! It does look like we will be able to spend time with our family during the holidays this year and are looking at airline travel back to Minnesota but with flights out of Anchorage being full already might have to go before Christmas or a little after but don't want to 'push' the January timeframe too much ....just in case we are headed to Ukraine around that time. Whoopee!

Fantastic, fantastic is the only word we can say for the beautiful, handmade quilt our friend June gave us for our fundraiser toward the adoption. June and Wayne have been very supportive and hopefully I can get Greg (with all his high-tech computer knowledge) to scan a picture of it and put it on this blog.

As most of you know, Greg and I are looking at 'older children' adoption. We are approved for the age range of 5 years old and up and would like to have siblings. We are flexible on gender and at this moment would say the ideal age combination might be an 8 & 10 yr old or somewhere in that range. HOWEVER, we have found that many people come back with different ages than they were expecting. One just has to follow their heart and be flexible. We will not break up a sibling group but two would be nice although we are approved for up to three. I'm calling Greg - PaPa sometimes so he can get used to hearing his 'other' name. He just beams with his funny little smile and gets a kick out of it. He is acting like an 'expectant' parent too so all of this is good. We're both so excited about each day we have to look forward too this month, next month and all the ensuing time with our children ahead. Keep in touch with us...ya all...out there and Happy Halloween. Arlene & Greg

Fundraising Plans!

2005-10-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

While waiting for our travel date, we have been trying to use our time in a more focused manner and have decided that after a busy season at work in our business that we had better make m-u-c-h more room in our home for when the child/children arrive. Sooooooooo.....out go the many, many things we thought we couldn't live without....you know the 'buy one get the other one free' type of thing. Well, Greg and I have thought too much alike on this subject way back before we met and even after we got married. It seems we have just about double of everything we have accumulated thru the years; but could that be (astrologically speaking)the situation which arises when two Gemni's get together as we both were born in June....in fact one on the 12th and just reverse the numbers and yup that's me....born on the 21st.
So goes it then for two people born under the 'twin' sign....double or nothing :)
A friend who is in the fishing charter boat business here in Alaska is going to donate proceeds from one of his sell-out trips this summer to the adoption fund; another wonderful, talented lady has completed making a quilt to be auctioned off at a local fundraising effort for the children in the upcoming months ahead and other
supportive friends from our little town and church have come forth wanting to help us bring the children home. We are truly blest with wonderful friends and family!

An Update

2005-10-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

Arlene and I are preparing for our trip to Ukraine by scouring the web for information on housing and restaurants in Kiev. I'm a "fast food fiend" so I was really happy to see that they have McDonald's there. Arlene has been checking a lot of the apartment rentals sites looking for just the right place to stay. We are also reading our Ukraine travel books, and trying to learn the language as well as some Russian which I believe is spoken in many parts of the country. We hope to get the news from the NAC soon on when our appointment will be. Stay tuned!

Darn Spam!

2005-10-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

I hate to do this, but the spammers have found a new venue for their ads - on the comments area of our blog. Therefore I have enabled the "word verification" function for entering comments. I know it makes it a hassle, but we are trying to minimize helping encourage advertising where it doesn't belong!

NAC HAS A FIRE....but no one hurt!

2005-10-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

'When it rains it pours' as the saying goes and in this case it was with fire. Just updated by one of our Ukraine observers that a fire broke out in the NAC director's office and at first there was concern as to if the many stacks of dossiers may have suffered fire or water damage...but THANKS to our quick reply back from our translator in Ukraine; Inna reports that it wasn't such a 'big' fire and the office staff at the NAC is back on a regular work schedule. Thank God there were no injuries or destruction of property and/or records.

Greg and I finally located the Lonely Planet's UKRAINE book which is one of the 'must-have' books for travel. Now all we have to do is try to master the challenge of the Ukrainian and Russian langauages so we can at least find our way to the necessary places we have to visit. WOW, we are getting more and more eager to venture into another new chapter of our life and that is to bring the children home.
So nice to be able to email so many others who have preceeded us on this journey and hope we can share some of the info we bring back with future parents taking the same trip. Snow is starting to make its way down the mts but the sun makes everything glisten during the day. More later.

We're 'In-Waiting'...Still.

2005-10-05T20:52:00.000-08:00

This week we were so glad to be able to confirm with Greg's mom that she will be able to oversee things here in our Alaska home when we do leave for Ukraine. We are so glad that Arlene G (there can't be too many Arlene's in this World) will fly up here and join Mom until we get back. Taking care of a temperamental old cat and a very spoiled St. Bernard dog is no easy task....But thank God my mother-in-law is a true Survivor!!
Greg and I have decided to have a gigantic garage sale to help put monies into the adoption fund. After a busy summer and FINALLY trying to arrange our closets, we have found too many of 'this and thats'....all great treasures you know; but with the children coming we must get 'organized'....just like KENDRA has posted so many times!
We are doing the usual pre-adoptive things like checking the computer every chance we get to see if any more news from Ukraine has surfaced; checking all the new Posts which have been coming in on 'bonding' and feeling so good when we see others who are
gradually getting their appointments at the NAC...it's been a long 2-1/2 years for many of us....and hopefully ours will be coming soon as our translator did get it into the NAC on August 16th... So grateful for KT's imput to us and looking forward to meeting our translator, Inna when we do get to Kiev.
Greg said that we would try to keep some 'fresh' info on this blog but we are in a holding pattern waiting for our exact date with the NAC. Blessings to all.
Arlene & Greg

Hit Counter Added

2005-09-29T08:52:00.000-08:00

Today I am (hopefully) adding a free "hit" counter so we can see how many people are looking at our blog. Wish me luck!
Greg

Arlene's Notes

2005-09-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

Today, Greg gave me the ‘official go-ahead’ to add to our b-l-o-g!! This is soooo new to us but will try to pretend I am sending each of you a personal update on our exciting chapter to our lives…..hope you will enjoy sharing our experiences with us.
Having started on this journey over 2 ½ years ago, it finally looks like things are starting to move forward….bit – by –bit…and for that we are ever so grateful. On August 16, 2005 our dossier was submitted to the NAC in Ukraine by our translator, Inna, who will even be in more closer contact with us during the months to come. Joe and Dr. Carol have kept us organized from their offices at Adopt Abroad in Pennsylvania and Europe and each of them have given us great encouragement to continue on. So, Greg and I are very appreciative of each of the three of them who help us as a support team…..especially when I, Arlene, get so over-concerned and start emailing letters like crazy to each of them. Glad they are so well equipped to handle the ‘Nervous Nellies’ like me.
As ‘older’ adoptive parents getting ready to complete our family with ‘older’ children this is a bit amusing to us. First of all, in Ukraine an ‘older’ child is anyone over the age of 4-5 years of age. The ‘older’ parent now is considered one who is in their 50-70’s and has often raised their children or their children’s children and have the ‘maturity’ and time to devote to their endeavors. In our case, Greg was a bachelor (oooh hope he doesn’t regret those years…) until nearly 50 years of age and I had been married previously and helped raise three beautiful stepdaughters. Greg and I are looking forward to having an opportunity to raise a child/children together AND our stepdaughters are as excited about it as we are. We hope to adopt siblings either boys or girls and most likely they will be in the age range of 8-13. This is especially rewarding to me as I had a wonderful son who I adopted domestically but lost him several years ago in an accident.
The Yahoo forums have been just great in despensing info from so many people who are in the process of adopting. During the last few weeks, Kendra, Cara-domme, Lynn, and KT have been instrumental in giving us additional input on the Ukrainian scene involving adoptions. They have adopted from Ukraine and we enjoy looking at some of their blogs and this has been a great help to us.
Our folks live in White Bear Lake, Minnesota and have offered to come up to Alaska to watch the place….pet the dog…..put up with the cat…..while we are in Ukraine so even though they are from a place where it gets a little chilly in the winter; we hope that the 30-day mandatory time will be waived by the time we get ready to travel. Not sure what day we will be given by NAC but will post it on this blog as soon as we
know.

2005-09-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

Back of NAC Registration Envelope

NAC Document Arrived

2005-09-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

We received our first document from the NAC yesterday. It was our official notice of our registration for adoption. Our translator Inna had e-mailed us the registration number about a week ago, but it was still exciting to get a letter written in Ukrainian (with english sub-titles).

2005-09-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

With Our "Saint"

We're Here!

2005-09-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our blog! This is a new experience for Arlene and myself. We'll probably make a few mistakes and typos until we're more accustomed to posting, but hope you'll enjoy following our progress! Please check back occaisionally to see what's new. You should soon be able to see pictures of us and our surroundings. We will also make an honest effort to post things on a frequent basis to keep it fresh. Thanks for reading!