The journey of adoption

The opportunity to utilize this blogspot as a means of sharing our journey with others has been an incredible blessing. This blogspot has allowed me to meet other wonderful families who have "been there, done that" and have returned

home. If you are "in the process" of adopting, may you find hope and encouragement in our journey. I want the focus of this blogspot to remain about our journey to adopt our son.

We pray for the children living in orphanages in Ukraine.

We pray for the caretakers who care and love the children.

We pray for families to place their trust in the Lord and follow their hearts to adopt.

We pray for Hopeful Hearts Foundation as this ministry continues to impact the lives of children.

Home Sweet Home

   

The Sprouse's have returned to the house...home. We left Kiev, Ukraine at 3:00am on Wednesday, December 17th.  We landed in Louisville, Kentucky at midnight.  With the 7 hour time zone difference that equalled about 28 hours of traveling.  Evan is now a world class traveler.  We were welcomed by family and friends at the airport.  It feels so good to be home. 

Evan is adjusting very well to his new surroundings and realizing that this is his home. We celebrate the joy of parenting and cannot express our deep love for all of you.  Praise the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lincoln Tunnel Here We Come!

  Amsterdam airport, waiting to get on the plane.
The passport was delivered to the apartment in Odessa...yippeee!  We packed our bags and traveled to Kiev on Saturday the 13th.  Our host family was able to arrange for a man from their church to transport us by a van to Kiev.  We stayed with our facilitator, Galya, in Kiev for the next few days.  Sunday, December 14th, we remained at her apartment all day.  Monday, December 15th, we traveled downtown Kiev to submit paperwork to the American Embassy to file for Evan's visa.  I went to the KLM airline office to purchase Evan's plane ticket and try to arrange different flight schedule.  I was only able to obtain a schedule that would place us in Amsterdam airport overnight (15 hours).  We would not be able to leave the airport because Evan's visa is only good for the United States and the Amsterdam airport's hotel was booked. Tuesday, December 16th, we had an interview at American Embassy at 2:00pm.  Evan's visa was granted at 2:30pm.  We returned to the KLM airline office so that I could request a different flight schedule.  After 2 hours of waiting, the KLM staff person booked our flight to leave on Wednesday, December 17th and be home on December 17th.  We returned to Galya's apartment, ate dinner, packed our bags.  We were so excited about coming home.  We awoke 3:00am on Wednesday and began our journey home.  We flew from Kiev to Amsterdam to JFK to Louisville.

Passport, another blessing

Praise the Lord! Galya, our facilitator, called tonight and stated, "Congratulations!". What for? "We already have Evan", I said. "Evan's passport is ready", Galya stated. She shared that the process of obtaining a passport usually takes longer than 4 days. We applied on Tuesday. Praise the Lord! If ever there is a time to shout of God's goodness, well I hope you have a lot of time, cause I'm shoutin' His goodness. Our bags are packed, we will say our farewells to our wonderful host family, and travel to Kiev on Saturday. We will go to the US Embassy on Monday. We are booking a flight for Wednesday the 17th.

Through the Land of Candy Canes

Have you seen the movie The Elf? Well, Buddy the Elf shares of his adventures to get to New York by stating, "I traveled through the Land of Candy Canes, then the Swirly Twirly Gum Drops, and then the Lincoln Tunnel." Well, that is what we felt like in order to obtain the new birth certificate, identification number, and apply for Evan's passport. We are grateful that the process went very well and able to accomplish everything. Now, we need to wait for the passport to be completed (4-7 business days) then travel to Kiev, pick up the passport, go to the US Embassy, then hopefully catch a flight home. Evan is doing very well considering he is with new people, new food, new places, new sounds, new schedule, new... We are learning as well and laughing along the way.

The Official "Gotcha Day"

The weather had turned off colder along with rain, but none of that put a damper on today. We awoke with butterflies in our bellies and knowing that our lives will be changed forever. We went to a local grocery store and purchased gifts for the orphanage employees and the children in Evan's group. The bags were filled with apples, bananas, chocolates, cakes, and cookies. A time to celebrate. As we entered the gates of the orphanage, I remembered that just a few weeks ago we stood outside those gates wondering who was waiting for us on the other side.

We were able to express our appreciation to the wonderful people who has cared for our son through words of gratitude and love. The women who have cared for Evan shared stories about him and informed us that he is "a good boy". We brought a new outfit for Evan and they dressed him as he peeked over and smiled at us. The room was full of little ones taking a nap, so we were able to see Evan's crib, empty. We spoke with the director and attorney as well. They shared how Evan has been looking for us each day and smiling more. We expressed our gratitude to them and encouraged them to continue their good work. We spoke our farewells and gathered up our son and walked to the taxi.

 

Daddy, Mommy, and Evan leaving the orphanage. We celebrate with each of you for this journey has not ended, it has just begun!

The Tenth Day

When is the "tenth day"? According to the calendar, Friday was the "tenth day". However, the court documents and judge ruling states Monday is the day that we can have Evan. So, the "tenth day" is really 13 days. We anticipate to have the party and distribute gifts to the orphanage on Monday and take Evan with us. On Tuesday, we begin the paperwork process for the passport and visa because the offices are closed on Mondays. We have decided to remain in Odessa with our host family during this time. Every step of this entire process has gone according to God's plan and we continue to lean not on our own understanding rather trust Jesus Christ.  

"Mama" and "Papa" and their son, our friend and interpreter, Torlek.