Playing Catch-Up

I (Stacie) thought that I had been doing a pretty good job of keeping everyone updated until my helpful husband pointed out that I was over a week behind. (He also pointed out that I share openly about the scenery, food, and people while including very little information about our son so I will try to rectify that!) Below you will find a quick summary of our comings and goings the last week or so…

October 29th
After the cross-city adventures to inspectors that were mentioned earlier, we went to the orphanage and got to spend time with Chris Nichols and his son Karson who was adopted from the same orphanage almost two years ago. We were so sorry for the tragic circumstances that brought them back to Ukraine (the death of Karson’s brother), but it was wonderful for Sasha to get to spend some time with his friend.

We ended the day with a trip to the Fat House to celebrate with the West family who had just been granted official custody of their three children: Dawson, Jessica, and Danay!



October 30th
We made a trip to the notary’s office to verify that we are who our passports say we are… or just to add more papers to our growing pile of documents – we’re not sure which. Then we went to the orphanage and spent time with Sasha and Viktor as well as some of the other children that we have met through the summer program.
Trace got his way as we made a repeat visit to the Fat House for dinner and then spent a little time walking around downtown and window-shopping in stores that we had no business entering on our budget.

October 31st
We played outside with Sasha and several other children and enjoyed a game of Keep-
Away that lasted over an hour! (Who knew that we could be so easily entertained? But any activity with these sweet kids is extra-special.)
Later we met with our facilitator while Sasha browsed through the adoption documents that had been completed thus far (still a small percentage of the total needed). The most poignant moment occurred when he read his birth certificate out loud but replaced his “old” information with all of his “new” information:
Father – Trace Dean Hennesy
Mother – Stacie Lee Hennesy
Child – Ryan Alexander Hennesy
He did this as if it were the most natural thing in the world without any understanding of how wonderful it was for us to hear him say it.
This evening the kids out-voted Dad and we had dinner at McDonald’s instead of the Fat House. Sasha and Viktor loved it and it actually tasted pretty good to us too – either McDonald’s is better in Ukraine than it is in the U.S. or we were just craving salty, fatty food after all of the rather healthy Ukrainian food that we had been having.

November 1st
We couldn’t get permission to leave the orphanage with Sasha on this day so we hung out with him and his friends for awhile in the computer/video game room. (It wouldn’t make any American kids jealous, but it certainly wasn’t bad by orphanage standards.)
We had dinner with the West family at the food court in the Globus Mall with hopes that everyone could find something that appealed to them – it worked because there was a McDonald’s there so both our kids and the West’s kids were happy. They are very sweet kids and our girls really enjoyed spending time with them.

November 2nd
The day started poorly as we were reunited with an orphanage “graduate” that seemed to have had a tough time since we saw him last in 2006. When I asked him how he had been, he answered that he had changed and that now he is bad. He looked pale and gaunt and his formerly lively eyes now appeared dull. We tried hard to encourage him, but he remained despondent throughout our visit. It broke our heart to see such drastic changes in him in the course of a year and further burdened us for Viktor and the other children that we are leaving behind.
The highlight of the day was an hour-long soccer game that saw Ukrainians and Americans mixing it up and loving every minute of it. Trace and Sasha were on opposing teams and managed to take each other on several times during the course of the game. While Trace did a fair job of holding his own, Sasha was the clear winner of that contest – at least according to Mom.
We hooked up with the Davie family and took Sasha, Viktor, and Vitalik to the Karavan Mall following the soccer game. We had dinner at McDonald’s – again – and then spent an hour in the arcade. (Apparently shooting, fighting, and driving games are universally attractive to all boys!) The van ride home was one of the best times to date…the boys were in rare form and kept us entertained with non-stop jokes – some of which were funny when translated and some of which really were not – and we enjoyed seeing them so relaxed and at-ease. It was tough to say good-bye after such a great evening!

November 3rd
We took Sasha and Viktor back to the Karavan Mall for more McDonald’s and more arcade time. While we were there, the boys and Megan and I took in a Russian movie (good entertainment for Megan and the boys, good nap time for me) while Trace and Kaitlyn opted for the wiser option of a banana-split date.
The boys seemed tired after all of the recent outings so we took them back to the orphanage early. We were also tired after all of the recent outings, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit with American friends who were wrapping up mission trips to various parts of Ukraine so we met up with everyone at TGIFridays.

November 4th
Trace left to attend to business in Scotland and England for a couple of days.
The girls and I spent the day at the local market where we purchased warmer coats, hats, and gloves – this marked the first time that I have regretted the “We’re Moving to the South, Let’s Get Rid of all of our Cold Weather Clothes” Garage Sale that we had shortly before leaving Missouri.

November 5th – 9th
Regular classes resumed at the orphanage (following Fall Break last week) so the bad news is that we are much more limited in our ability to take Sasha anywhere during the week. The good news is that several of the children to whom we have grown close over the last couple of years have returned to the orphanage and we will now be able to spend time with them. We are relegated to hanging out in the entryway and pass the time playing cards, calling friends in America, watching magic tricks, and anything else that the kids come up with to keep us entertained.

While we are really enjoying our interactions with all of the children, our main focus has been on connecting with Sasha and we seem to be making good progress in that area. We are thankful that he’s developing a good relationship with both of his sisters that are here. He is playful with Kaitlyn and always joking around with her, but he’s also protective of her and would never allow someone to hurt her feelings. He views Megan as a buddy and relies on her to be his own personal translator – one of his favorite phrases is “Megan, speak Russian.” He also views himself as quite the matchmaker and enjoys teasing Megan about the potential boyfriends that he has picked out for her. (But this is apparently a one-sided venture as the subject of girlfriends for him is absolutely off-limits!) And he frequently asks when Lauren will arrive and seems to be anxious to get to know her better as well. (He is already worrying about what he will get her for her birthday next month even though we assure him that all she needs is her brother.)

Everyday that we spend with him feels a little more natural and a little less awkward. Slowly, but surely, we are all figuring out how to be a family.