Stahlke Adoption

Possible News; The Rockies

Jonathan talked to Darlene, our social worker at LSS-New England, a few days ago. She told him that it is likely, though not certain, that Masha submitted our dossier to the Ukrainian government (the SDA) on Monday, June 4. If so, parents travel on average about 12 weeks after the dossier submission. That means we may be leaving for Ukraine in early September. The operative word here, however, is "maybe" since much is still unknown--whether or not the dossier was submitted, if the paperwork is all correctly done, whether the SDA is working fast or slow, if the political situation in Ukraine stays calm, etc., etc.
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We returned last night from a ten-day trip to the Rocky Mountains. Besides three days driving there and three days returning, we spent three days in Fairplay (two hours west of Denver) with my brother's family and one day in Denver with my cousin's family.

During their years in Ukraine, the children traveled in their immediate area and once or twice north to Kyiv, so they did not see the mountains on Ukraine's western border. A year ago, they saw their first mountains, the Appalachians, on a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit my sister's family. While the Appalachians are very beautiful, the view of the Rockies as you approach Denver is something really special. They rise from the plains like an enormous jumbled and snow-covered wall that stretches as far north and south as you can see. One child said it looked like a wall had fallen down. In general, the children's comments reflected both their age and interests. Ruslan, the oldest and also our best handyman, wanted to know if the mountains had been flattened to make a place to build Denver. Misha, the youngest and one most likely to fantasize, made comments showing that his experience with hills is pretty much limited to the garbage dump in Hillside, Illinois, on our way to church. He asked if the mountains had trash underneath the surface to make them so high!

The three days in Fairplay were the first time since Ukraine that the children spent an extended time in a rural area. My brother lives on fifty acres of land close to the town, and his children raise horses, pigs, and chickens through the 4-H program. Our children had the run of the land and could play with cousins and lots of new toys. We also fished, hiked, and went four-wheeling in the mountains. What a fantastic time for all of us! And the opportunity to spend time and meet relatives in Fairplay and Denver was very important--extended family is a key part of Ukrainian culture and also a strong value in my family and Jonathan's.

posted by Stahlkes @ 11:13 AM