Alzen Family Adoption

2011-11-10T12:07:00.001-08:00

Just to let everyone know that we are going to be posting the magority of things on our other blog: http://www.alzenfamily.blogspot.com/. Thanks!

- Tessa

Land of Lakes

2011-08-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekend's ago, we went up to our Uncle Mark's cabin for the annual Kelliher Open (like a family reunion.) We always have fun taking the trip up north, and seeing our relatives. The boys love swimming, so they had lots of fun! And they had quite a few firsts there: boat-riding, paddle-boating, tubing, fishing, and lots of other random things!

Jacob on the dock

Lucas with his fish

Jonas was very proud that he caught "three fish!!" He just couldn't wait to tell everybody! :) They were actually pretty good catches, and tasty too!

Isn't he a cutie!

Jacob with his pole in the water, ready to catch more fish! He caught one, and I believe we might of kept that one too!

Some of the men lounging in the living-room

Jonas playing on the tube, excited to go tubing. He just couldn't wait to go out on the water!

We always have a canoe race. Here's Isaac and AnaLise coming back from being defeated....well maybe not exactly. :P

Actually, Uncle Mark and I took the defeat...ouch. :)

Some of us kids waiting for the boat to get rolling

Tubing!

We took group pictures, this one is of us kids/cousins.

We stopped on the way back to get some ice cream...yum yum! Here's a picture with the whole family.

Then... the car-ride got a little bit crazy! =P

Posted by Tessa

Summer Fun

2011-08-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hi this is Tessa again, blogging about summer fun with my new younger brothers outside. They seem to love our home, our dog, Shelby the Sheltie, and being part of our family. Like most newly adopted kids, they are really excited! One thing they still haven't explored yet is the woods. :) Btw, I'm sorry I haven't gotten to blogging lately...life has been going at a crazy pace!

Okay, here's some pictures of our life in the past 3 and a half weeks...

We've been swimming A LOT lately, because our neighbors, the Weismanns, have been graciously letting us use their swimming pool, which has been really nice on hot days!

Jacob plunging off the diving board

And Jonas!

We had a surprise when we stopped at a gas station near Rogers, MN and there beside us was our friends, the Godins, filling up their big white van also! We decided to go to Culvers together. Here's Lucas, Josiah (Jacob's buddy), and Jacob.

Jonas and his little friend, Abby

(A little story explaining Jonas' hand...we were Skyping with Isaac and Lucas while we were in Ukraine, and mom was trying to ask Isaac if he could hear us or not because we couldn't here them, so she used the sign-language motions for yes and no. Jonas saw her doing the "no" sign, and he thought it was one of our funny things to do in pictures, so here he is doing his version of it. :P)

We've played a few concerts since we've been back, but the boys have only attended one of them. Mom stays home with them so that they can get adjusted. Here we are at a pastor's house in northern MN near Talmoon. The boys love it when their big brothers add to the outdoor FUN!

The boys found an old kite in our toy shed and they put good use into it! ;D

We went to the Kraft Family Annual Birthday Bash ...the boys had a blast! The Kraft Family and volunteers made not only this carnival a success, but they were also involved with our fundraiser to bring my new brothers to America. Here they are with Mr. and Mrs. Pat Kirsch.

Jonas and Mom

There was a water-sponge toss, where you toss it onto who ever is a volunteer. :)

And Dad decided to be the target for the boys!

Jacob with his treasures

Lucas pulled the boys behind the lawn-mower, while they slurped on some freezie pops. =)

We're home!

2011-07-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

We're finally home!! We got up at 2:50, on July 22, to leave to go to the Kiev airport. We took a 3 hour flight to Amsterdam on KLM, and landed safely. From there, we flew on Delta, and "survived" a 8 hour flight (with hardly any sleep), and arrived in America! It was so great to actually hear English all around us! Once we had gone through more security stuff, we were welcomed by our family and friends...thank you guys for making it over to see us! It was so nice to see the people we had been missing in Ukraine!

AnaLise and Diana

Of course there was jet-leg involved, so we were pretty tired! Here Jacob and Jonas are leaning against each other as they slept on the way home. =)

Today Grandpa and Grandma gave us a welcome home cake! :)

Farewell Ukrainian Friends

2011-07-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Ivan and Luda gave us a home away from home.

Denise with Luda and Little Elisah and Baby #5

Luda is a marvelous cook and hard working mother. When we would spend the night at their home in the village, she would be up at the break of dawn peeling beets and hacking meat for her delicious borsche soup to be served for many following church service.

Farewell with Ivan at the Bus Station

Ivan is a dear brother in Christ who ministers at the orphanage every Saturday. Our boys always looked forward to his visits. He prayed for Valentin (Jacob) and Yura (Jonas) to be adopted by a Christian family. God answers prayers, Alleluia! He and his lovely wife, Luda, are in the process of adopting a 12 year old boy. Brad and Ivan have similar personalities including a fun sense of humor. The two of them had a tearful farewell.

Ivan's Children - Riding in the Trunk

Since Ivan's church wanted us to play worship songs each Sunday, he would pick us up in his Ford Escort. We never knew how many little ones were going to pop up from tiny corners of his car. Here you see two of his riding in his trunk tucked below our instruments. Aren't they adorable? On this particular morning, we had a total of ten people in his tiny car as well as our clunky instruments. We were always curious what new adventures awaited us. Many children we observed are potty trained early and do not wear diapers, so we had some surprises when their little one would sit on our lap!

There are several other friends we would like to write about, but we must get ready for our early morning flight. We hope we can meet them again someday. We are looking forward to seeing our old friends very soon!

"Make new friends, but keep the old

One is silver and the other gold."

Packing the Bags!

2011-07-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Our final task was finished today, when our Embassy issued Jacob and Jonas their U.S. Immigrant VISAs! They will officially be U.S. Citizens once their feet are upon U.S. ground. We finished one day early, as we don't leave until Friday morning. This was a good thing, as we need time to pack and get some sleep before we have to wake at 2:45 A.M., leave our apartment at 3:45 A.M. for the airport, and depart, Lord willing, at 6:30 A.M. for Amsterdam, and then Minneapolis. Our flight is scheduled to arrive at 12:30 p.m. on Friday.

Our adoption coordinator, Irina, did a wonderful job of navigating through all the steps of court decrees, applications, notarizations, stamps, apostilles, more stamps, signatures, approvals of applications, verifications of stamps, stamps on stamps, seals on stamps on seals, etc... The majority of documents are recorded in hand written ledgers. We are so thankful that, once we got through the 10-day waiting period, the approvals and document process went very smoothly. This has allowed us to leave on our scheduled flight on Friday. Any further changes to the tickets would have cost us dearly.

We are so thankful to all of you who have had a part in our journey. Many of you have helped us financially, prayed for us, and given us moral support and encouragement as we moved forward to adopt. THANK YOU! Many here in Ukraine have bent over backwards to make our stay more comfortable, and make us feel more at home. We have made many new Ukrainian friends, and we will never forget you. We would like to publicly thank the Lord for His goodness, His wisdom, His direction and His power. He is the Author of this Love Story.

For those of you who have prayed for us, please don't stop now. This whole process that is necessary to adopt a child from Ukraine seems so crazy and difficult at times. However, those of you who have adopted older children know that the most important work has just begun. We need your prayers for wisdom as we parent two little boys who have had such a hard life, and have felt such deep pain. We feel blessed to have the opportunity to turn at least some of that pain into security, safety, peace, protection, and love. We can see them growing attached to us and us to them... thank you, Jesus. We seek the Great Physician to heal their wounds. They are precious little boys and we love them dearly.

Sincerely,

Brad and Denise

Global Connections

2011-07-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

Rendezvous in Kiev with Randy and Kathy Junker

Today, we were delighted to meet with our friends, Randy and Kathy Junker, as they were exiting Ukraine. They were located near the Black Sea, visiting a sweet little boy that they once hosted a while back. They hope to return in November to hopefully finalize the adoption. Our prayers are with you, Randy and Kathy, in adopting Bogdan.

Lucas, Samuel, and Isaac --- Skyping with us from Spain

Our oldest sons are visiting our exchange student from Spain and his family. Samuel Solis Serrano has lived with us for four summers. He has become a part of our family. Samuel aspires to be a conductor and is attending music school in Salzburg, Austria. Isaac is studying Accounting and Spanish at UWRF. Hopefully, his Spanish studies are is being put to good use. There is nothing better than immersion when it comes to language learning. Lucas is enriching us with photos of Spanish Architecture. He told us yesterday that Madrid is the third largest city in Europe in terms of city population. London is first followed by Berlin.

It has been easier to skype with them now that they are only one time zone away. Isaac and Lucas will arrive home from Madrid via Amsterdam one day before us. We did try to arrange for the same flight home, but frequent flyer miles have limited choices. !Muchas gracias a Samuel y tu familia por tu hospitalidad!

Cousin Paul Moyer Gave the Boys with Sopilkas here in Kiev

We met Brad's cousin, Paul Moyer, who treated us to lunch at McDonalds here in Kiev. He was here on a missions trip. It was funny because every time he would call Brad, the two of them would have a complete conversation in Russian. No wonder I was confused as to who was on the other line. Paul also blessed the boys with two Ukrainain flutes called "sopilkas." Jonas was eager to demonstrate his immediately (much to the dismay of the other customers) until we quickly decided that he could play it outside instead. Whew!

We received our passports, PTL! We are awaiting our visas. It looks very promising for arriving this Fri., (see "Countdown to U.S.A." for flight # and info). Thank you for your prayers!

Our First Soccer Match!

2011-07-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

We went to our first soccer match! Our coordinator, Irina, along with her husband, Valera, took us. My dad enjoyed gaining insight from Valera because he knew the players well. It was really fun and the stadium was nice. It was really cool for me because I really like soccer and I hadn't seen a match before. The boys also loved it, and they looked really cute with their Ukraine soccer jerseys. :) The end score was 0-0, so there wasn't a whole lot going on, but it still was really interesting to watch! Jonas was convinced that if they had let him play, he would have scored. It was two professional teams, Kiev Arsonal against another Ukrainian city team.

The boys standing next to a statue of a coach who the stadium was named after.

They got to take one step onto the field =)

The fam :D

Some photos of the field

The boys on the steps outside of the stadium

*Smiles*

Posted by Tessa

Countdown to USA!

2011-07-17T13:10:00.001-07:00

We are on our final stretch here in Ukraine. We have some more details to accomplish, the main one being new passports, and visas for Jacob and Jonas. We called the U.S. American Embassy to make an appointment for the boys' new visas. To our amazement, we could find no one who understood or spoke English at the American Embassy! They kept transferring us to a new person who supposedly knew English, but it was obvious that they didn't. We are glad that we were not in an emergency situation! Please pray for clear sailing with both the passports and visas, as any delay will cause us to have to re-schedule our flights at significant cost.

Some have asked for our flight details, so we thought we would share it with you all, our blogging friends. Your comments have been a highlight of our day. It is one of the first things we check when we get home after our outings here in Ukraine.

Lord willing, we will arrive on Fri., July 22 at 12:30 P.M (half past noon) on KLM from Amsterdam (AMS).Flight # KL 6059 or DL 0259. You are welcome to come. Now that we have had bonding time for over a month, we are looking forward to introducing our sons to friends and family. They may be shy or groggy or wide-eyed with excitement... we can't predict.

Thank you for supporting us through this journey,

Brad and Denise

Eyes of Wonder

2011-07-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

One of the precious things about adopting an older child from an orphanage is watching their eyes of wonder. One of the hardest things is the sad, hopeless looks from the orphans left behind.

Since their world has become so much bigger in the last few days, we limit our outings in order to give them some continuity in routine and bonding time at "home" in the Kiev apt. we are renting. Here Jacob and Papa are doing his first building kit together.

We are so grateful that they are experiencing all of these new wonders together... new sites, new foods, new rules, etc. They have both watched each other get consequences, such as a loss of a privilege. They giggled as they went on their first escalator ride together and wanted to keep going on it again. In the photo above, they held each other as they stood in front of a cashier.

First Restaurant Experience - We brought the boys to a reasonably priced Ukrainian cafeteria. Once we told them about it, they couldn't wait! When Jonas is excited, his voice projects loudly , "MAMA! PAPA!" He wanted to point at everything. In a quiet manner, Jacob was wide-eyed with the food choices.

Speaking of loud voices, and because some have inquired, we think Jonas is showing potential as a singer. On his bed at the orphanage, he would listen to a stuffed bear sing. He was always disappointed when the batteries would die. Sometimes we would hear him singing this same tune outside. They are both enjoying the bedtime routine of snuggling, stories, praying, and being sung to as we tuck them in at night. "Lo, children are a gift from the Lord, Happy is the man who has a quiver full of them." Psalm 127:5

First 24 Hours

2011-07-14T11:51:00.001-07:00

Within our first 24 hours of parenting our new sons, we had some crazy circumstances occur beyond our control. For instance, when we were about to put our new sons to bed, the water from the washing machine started coming through the kitchen sink. After bailing water in whatever pot we could find, we started to get the neighbor's dirty water gushing through the sink as well. Thus instead of putting tired, overstimulated, boys to bed, we were racing back and forth with pots of water, trying to get a hold of our landlady, and taking care of boys that are just learning that our no means no. Later, we FINALLY answered the door to a late night plumbling crew. It is not easy to communicate in Russian about your plumbing situation...it was actually comical in retrospect.

The boys were wide-eyed as they went to their first supermarket. Jonas was fascinated by the electronic doors. We were glad to redirect him to his very first thrill ride... Dad navigating a grocery cart!

We have had many stares and comments about our "Big Family". Little do they know that we have two older sons at home along with Brad's parents living beside us in a built-in apt. We will soon be a household of ten, Praise the Lord! By the way, a big thank you to Isaac, Lucas, Grandma Pat, Del and Dolores for taking care of the garden, the animals, the mail, the laundry, the lawn, etc. while we are away. You are an integral part of this adoption journey.

Goodbye Orphanage!

2011-07-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

It was a BIG DAY and an emotional day. New beginnings for all of us. We are so grateful for the gift of these precious boys.

We had a busy day racing from one government office to the next. In order to obtain their birth certificates, we visited the village where they lived until 2008. It was a tiny village beside a beautiful river. One of the main roads to the village was a cobblestone road. We have seen many horses with trailers for farming purposes.

Jonas was ready to hit the road that he could hardly stand still for photos. Jacob had some sad goodbyes with his friends that have been more like family to him. We have assured him that he can keep in contact with them. One of our favorite workers was on duty. She started to cry as Jacob and Jonas departed.

The boys had their first car ride on our court date and they were wide-eyed. They couldn't wait to climb into this vehicle. This is going to be Jonas' first time in a big city.

After all the excitement, Jonas was ready to crash. As you can see from this photo, seatbelts are rare in most of the vehicles.

Farewell Orphanage!

Little Visitors

2011-07-11T01:07:00.000-07:00

Our host family has two girls, one of which loves to come to our house to visit us with one or more of her little cousins and neighbor friends. They enjoy blowing up balloons and seeing what other kinds of trinkets with which we like to surprise them. They also love to hear us practice our music and will often ask us to sing or play our violin for them. =) Our host family is staying right behind the house we are residing in, so we get quite many visits from these adorable girls!

Olya and her little cousin who came to stay at Olga's house for a while.

Olya and her best friend/cousin, Ira, who lives right down the road, and comes to play daily.
Isn't she cute?!?!?

Olga often lights up our day with her cheerful "Hallo!", "Sank You!", "Good Night!" and other English words she tries to pronounce in her cute singsong voice. =) She also has been our language teacher indirectly because she rolls her eyes at us or shakes her head if we don't "get it" and tries to help us understand... those Amerikanskis are missing a few marbles! Children are great language teachers because they are less inhibited. Tonight her family is giving us a farewell dinner. Olga said last night that she was going to miss us...we are going to miss this sweet little sunshine and her cousins too!

Posted by AnaLise

Visit to Special Needs Orphanage

2011-07-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

Our friend, Ivan, asked us if one of us would like to join him on a trip to a Special Orphanage along with Alena who was visiting Ukraine. As an Occupational Therapist, she has a vision to bless orphanages. He also said that only one member of our family could go, because the workers would be nervous if more came. I (Denise) was grateful for this opportunity.

It was a long drive into a remote area of the countryside. I asked Ivan why this orphanage was not instead near the main orphanage of this region. He said that during communism, the Soviets preferred to have "less productive members of society" far away from civilization. Thus, they remain remote yet today.
I met so many wonderful children with abilities. This little boy on the photo right was intrigued with picture books. It grieved me that they were placed far away from family life or from being integrated into society. We met Christians in Kiev who were adopting Down Syndrome children to give them a future and a hope. Jer. 29:11
I brought along small gifts for the orphans. Here you will see a number of the young ladies wearing new hair clips. I hope they felt pretty for they are precious in God's sight. They also received stickers, small toys, etc. Alena and Ivan delivered oranges and candy to be distributed later by the workers. At every orphanage I have ever been to, the big trick is to hide your present and pretend that you didn't get one... a few were doing this clever trick here also. I hope that their day was somehow touched by God's love in our visit.

"I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Thy works, my soul knows that very well." Psalm 139:15

Reach Out and Touch Someone

There was a divided section to the orphanage campus. We were not allowed to visit this building. I started to go towards this fence to hold their hands and look into their eyes, but the worker did not want us to go any closer than the street. Thus, all I could offer them was a smile and some greetings. They seemed hungry for attention. Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus.

KINDRED SPIRITS
Have you ever met a stranger with whom in a brief period of time, you can easily understand? I was privileged to have a day of ministry with Alena, a Ukrainian-American. We only knew each other for 24 hours, but by God's grace, we jumped through hoops and went straight to the heart. I don't know if we will ever see each other again this side of heaven, but it was one of those God-given connections. She brought back memories of my single days when I was globe-trotting fresh out of college also. Bon Voyage, Alena!

"This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Walking Back in Time

2011-07-07T00:25:00.000-07:00

While our friends back home were celebrating the Fourth of July with festivities, God provided yet another adventure. We were visiting our Christian friends in a nearby village and the Pastor asked us if we would like to visit an elderly couple that had farm animals living in their house. Most certainly we did. It was like walking back in time about 70 years at least.
The elderly couple was thrilled to have company. They are both nearly blind. She said she has a hard time seeing the vegetables in her garden.

Nikola played some Ukranian music for us on his fiddle... many minor chords.

We asked his wife if she had any memories of her life during WWII. She said she was captured six times by the German troops to be sent to hard labor camps. Each time she escaped by jumping off the train. She was always shot at... by the time she would hear a third shot she thought she was a goner because the bullets landed so near to her. On one of her escapes, a teacher let her hide in her house temporarily. The teacher told her to secretly escape by joining a wedding procession marching through town. She did and it worked because she nuzzled into the crowd.

When we asked Nikola if he had memories of the war, he told us of a German soldier staring into his eyes. The soldier could tell that Nikola had poor eyesight, so he patted Nikola on the head and much to Nikola's relief, the soldier just let him be.

We were able to have an extensive conversation with these precious folks thanks to Alena, a Ukranian-American who is here to visit some relatives and to bless orphans.

Their home was tucked away in the beautiful countryside... very peaceful and yes, they did have farm animals living in their home.

We also visited a World War II memorial. Ivan said that many women grew old quickly and hunched over due to the hard labor after many men were killed in WWII.

We have come to truly love and appreciate this dear brother in Christ.

After our journey to the elderly couple's home, we walked back to Ivan and Luda's abundant garden. Luda had once again prepared a meal for us. Splendid hospitality. They grow most of what they eat.

We are here during berry and cherry season, so we are often offered delicious home-made juice.

We hope you had a memorable fourth of July as well. With fondness, Denise for all

Language Blooper

2011-07-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

I, Denise, have been awarded the Language Blooper of the Day Award. I was chatting with a neighbor lady. As the conversation was drawing to an end, I was explaining my need to return home now.

What I meant to say, "I want to feed my family now."
What I actually said, "Ya hachoo kushit mya semya si chass."

My girls started to giggle...their listening comprehension skills are growing leaps and bounds. AnaLise whispered, "Mom, you just told her ---
'I want to eat my family now!"

No wonder the lady' s mouth dropped open! Those crazy Amerikanskis!

Jacob and Jonas

2011-07-05T05:16:00.001-07:00

Jacob has a shy demeanor when you first meet him. In fact, initially, he was a bit hesitant around these strange foreigners who came to meet them. Sometimes during our initial visits, he would hop on his buddy's bike instead of spending time with us. The Lord gave me, Denise, an idea. After he hopped off his bike and went inside the orphanage, I followed him to his room. I sat down on his bed with him for a few quiet moments and then I gently asked him a bit about his belongings which were very few, but precious to him, nonetheless. He was showing me where he kept his art sketches, his shoes, etc. It was an opportunity to enter his world. It was as if a bridge of trust was forming.

We knew we had reached a breakthrough one morning when he came running to greet us at the gate. Initially, he was embarrassed with our bits of affection, now he can't seem to get enough of it. Jacob has a sweet, conscientious way about him. We love him to pieces.

Jonas was also a bit shy with us upon our initial visit which we consider to be healthy. However, we are learning more and more about his effervescent personality! For instance, when he is doing something fun, he will shout, "Yahoo!" He is enthusiastic and full of life. He has a winsome smile. We love to squeeze him and hear his cute giggle.

Jacob and Jonas are fond of their neighborhood buddy, Maxine, who shares his friendship (and his bike) with them. They are going to truly miss him. They look forward to having their very own first bicycles in America.
We can't wait for you to meet these wonderful boys. Don't let their shy smiles fool you!

Sometimes we refer to Jonas as a little monkey! He seems to be athletically inclined... perhaps a potential gymnast, or martial arts or soccer player. He loves to do cartwheels, etc. and he is a power house on the soccer field. He was excited to hear that he would get chances to go swimming in America.

Jacob and Jonas are truly bonded as brothers. We give thanks to the Lord for this brother bond. We are delighted that they can make this new journey together.

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever." Psalms

A Notice to our Blog Followers

2011-07-03T22:00:00.001-07:00

Please note that new entries sometimes will be placed below an old one...due to when the draft was started. So if you come onto our blog, and see an old post, scroll down a little bit farther and maybe you'll see a new one. :)

For all of you that have left comments...thank you very much! It's been a blessing to see who has been reading our blog. It has also a blessing to hear your encouraging words! Thank you also to those who have sent e-mails our way.

"A word aptly spoken is like an apple of gold." Proverbs

Some have contacted us to say that they have been unsuccessful in leaving comments. We are not sure how to fix that problem. If any of you have some suggestions, let us know. If you have tried to post a comment unsuccessfully, our email address is: bwalzen@pressenter.com. We value every note we receive. God is using you to encourage us.

Thanks for reading our blog!

- Tessa Alzen

When Can We Come Home?

2011-07-01T12:28:00.003-07:00

Many have asked us about our timing here. Our best guess now is that we will be home on July 23rd. There are so many steps along the way that require signatures, approvals, stamps, etc... that it seems to be never-ending. It doesn't help that Ukraine has so many holidays. I wish we had so many breaks back home! Here is a time-line of our faith journey here (up to now these are actuals, and beyond, they are estimates):

June 06 Depart for Ukraine
June 07 Arrive in Kiev
June 09 State Department of Adoption Appointment. Received referral for boys.
June 10 Received permission to visit boys
June 14 Traveled to town of orphanage. (Previous day was holiday)
June 16 Asked boys if they wanted to be adopted. They said yes. Started lots of paperwork.
June 20 Requested court date. Were assigned date of June 29 (ouch, 9 days wait).
June 29 Court Hearing, with successful outcome (Praise God!)
July 12 Will pick up official court decree. They will legally be our children!
July 12 Apply for new Birth Certificates; leave for Kiev.
July 13 Apply for tax ID codes & Passports for boys. This will take at least 5 working days.
July 20 Doctors appointments for boys. Apply for VISAs at U.S. Embassy.
July 21 Receive VISAs.
July 22 or 23 Leave for USA

This schedule is contingent on things going smoothly and quickly the rest of the way. Our experience thus far is that things have gone smoothly, but S L O W L Y. Please pray that a miracle would happen, and we would experience both smooth and fast! The schedule above shows 6 1/2 weeks in Ukraine. We were expecting more like 5 weeks. We have been here 3 1/2 weeks now, and we are having many full days and interesting experiences. Thanks to the internet, Brad is working for ISAM while we are here. We are grateful for his company's flexibility. However, we do feel the stress of getting behind in our normal routine back home. We feel badly that we have to keep canceling more concerts during this festive season of summer. We are grateful that Isaac has been manager for us while we are away. He alerts us to important mail & messages and is taking care of much correspondence while we are away. Lucas is also helping out with the yard work and the animals. Thank you, Isaac and Lucas! Thank you also for those who have been graciously offering hospitality to our sons. We thank God for the many blessings we have received here already.

When

2011-07-01T12:28:00.001-07:00

~Shopping~

2011-07-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

We've gotten to enjoy the only "fast food" sort of place. This stand sells yummy pastries. But it's about a 35 minute walk...not quite so fast after all!)

{On the top: Elderly women sell their fresh produce in front of shops on the main street downtown. We've met some sweet ladies! This particular one is a very good sales-woman...if you just happen to glance at her food, she'll start insisting that you buy some of her fruit! :) And even if we buy some, she'll tell you to buy more!}

This post is on the vendors and places we buy our food. For us, compared to America the food is quite cheap, but for locals it's not so cheap! Clothing, on the other hand is far from cheap. The one thing though, is in the stores they don't have a variety of stuff. We've still enjoyed trying new things, Recently, we ate cow's tongue when it was offered to us... very chewy!

There is a bazaar in town that is on Thursdays and Sundays. It is a hopping place! They have all sorts of things including: fruits, vegetables, clothing, fresh meat, live animals, and tons of miscellaneous stuff.

Here Mom and Dad are buying fruit from a produce stand.

This is totally random! :P =P It's been raining ALOT here, so we always need umbrellas...they've come in handy! Lol :)

Well, I guess the picture isn't exactly totally random...girls and shopping kind of go together! ;) Speaking of clothing shopping, AnaLise and I really like the clothes they have here. And it isn't uncommon to wear dresses and skirts! The only thing is, their clothes are really expensive here...boo hoo!

Here is a photo inside of a shop, They usually have stuff for sale stacked in the aisles. You might want to think twice before you bring a little child inside... he might be like a bull in a china shop!

When you buy eggs, they put them in a tiny plastic bag, where they can easily get smooshed! Same thing with fruit...by the time we get home our raspberries are already mush! It is a half hour walk into town. We received a good tip from the Whitmans to bring cloth bags to Ukraine for shopping.

Another picture of the store with all of it's stuff squished into a tiny room! It sometimes is hard to look at anything because there is not much room to move around.

Our hostess and host have been very generous with their fresh produce...picked from their back yard! In turn, my parents decided to treat them to a restaurant. Usually there are only a few items available from the menu. Our host family rattled off an order. The waitress came out with a plate of summer sausage as well as another platter with cucumbers and tomatoes followed by bread. It was kind of funny because this has been one of our main lunches (since it is easy to transport to the orphanage.) The tiny stores nearby mainly offer sausage, dairy and bread.

We bought a fresh chicken from Natasha. Here she is plucking the feathers off. You can't get much fresher than that!

- Tessa Kate

Court Results!

2011-06-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled to announce the official adoption of Jacob Valik Alzen and Jonas Yuri Alzen! We had our court hearing today, and the judge ruled in our favor. Here you see us gathered around the judge and two jurors after the hearing. We appreciate how professional and friendly this judge was during and after the hearing.

We do need to clarify, however, that we will not receive the new official adoption documents until after a ten day waiting period as required by law. During this period, a relative can still come forward. Thus, we are still in need of prayer for the Lord's will to be done.

The judge was very thorough examining all the documents including our home study. Sometimes we felt nervous with the types of questions that were being fired at us, but we know he had the boys best interest at heart. The jury also took their job seriously and asked penetrating questions. Adoptions from this town are rare because of the smaller sized orphanage and lower population. In fact, they usually only have one every two years or so. They have never had an American in their court. They were very curious about us.

Advice to Prospective Adoption Parents: Bring along a mini-photo album and include pictures of your family including the grandparents, your yard in various seasons, the child's bedroom, etc. A picture is worth a thousand words. Our album seemed to put the jury at ease. Also, calculate ahead of time (metric system), the size of your yard, your house, the distance to school, etc. It is very hard to calculate conversions into the metric system quickly when one is being questioned at length. We wish that we had brought a mini-map along of the United States for many have asked us about our location.

Window of Faith

2011-06-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken as we were departing from one of many orphanage visits. It symbolizes the anticipation of a new beginning. We hope it also represents the last chapter of institutional living for Valik and Yuri.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1 When the door was shut to our original adoption plans, our hearts were truly aching, yet not without eternal hope. By God's grace and the prayers of many, the Lord has opened a new door.

We love these boys dearly. It has truly been a journey of faith. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for He that cometh to God must believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 Thank you for being a part of this remarkable journey.

God is faithful,

Denise

Snuggle Time!

2011-06-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

Dad and the boys had a goofy time snuggling. :D

Jacob (Valik) giving Papa a back massage

AnaLise and Jonas (Yuri) playing chess

Then Jonas joined in the fun!

Giggles galore!

Special Present

2011-06-28T05:19:00.000-07:00

Jacob/Valentin (see blog on names chosen) was so delighted to receive this gift of a Ukranian Children's Bible given to us by the church in the village. The boys have not yet attended church with us because they are not permitted to leave the orphanage until after our court date (please join us in prayer for this June 29 date) followed by a 10 day waiting period. We pray that all of our children would cherish the Word of God for the rest of their lives.

"Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." Psalm

The Ukranian Fellowship gave us a Ukranian Children's Bible. Here is Brad reading Cyrillic script which is a challenge). Reading to the boys also gives us snuggle moments as seen here with Jonas/Yuri.

Fellowship

2011-06-28T03:28:00.000-07:00

Fellowship

On Sunday we attended Ivan's church once again. We have been blessed by their fellowship. Afterwards, we were invited to Ivan an Luda's home for a large feast which included shlashlik, which is like shishkabob of tasty pork. We enjoyed helping with the preparations. Luda's extended family was also invited. We had a fun time talking and eating. :) And I mean REALLY eating! There was a ton of food! =P A common form of hospitality in Ukraine is to literally stuff you with food!) You may not recognize us when we get home!

The men: Ivan, Dad, Luda's dad, Luda's brothers Sergei, Vitali and another brother :P, and Luda's uncle. Ivan and Luda have many little ones who are not pictured because they are often moving about!

We had a delicious meal which included a special dish of marinated meat called shashlik. Tasty!

Me, AnaLise, Mom, Luda, and Luda's siter-in-law.

Ukrainian Musician

2011-06-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

Meet our neighbor Sasha, a very friendly construction worker, and wonderful musician. We had one very nice evening of music with him and his family already, and we look forward to more!

This is how it started for us. On our way to the orphanage, I met this grandpa, who was sitting on a stool and splitting logs for the upcoming winter. He became very interested in me and what we were doing in Ukraine, so we continue to talk for quite a while. Eventually, we said goodbye, and I continued on my way to catch up with Denise and the girls at the orphanage.

On our way back, he was still sitting there, splitting wood. Only this time, his daughter, grand-daughter, and great-granddaughter were there with him. I also had Denise and the girls with me. We stopped to talk, and very quickly realized that this was a very nice family. They invited us to come into their home for tea and goodies. Like most people in this village, they grow and raise most of what they eat. We saw LOTS of potatoes, along with just about every other vegetable you could imagine growing in their yard. In addition, chickens and pigs added to the noises all around us. Walking to their home along a narrow path, we picked red raspberries, yellow raspberries, cherries, and another berry that looks something like a mulberry. We also help tiny puppies recently born to the family dog. Here you see Anastasia holding one of them.

Here I am with Sasha before he broke out the accordion to play some rousing Ukrainian music.

Listen to Sasha's accordion and watch Anastasia with her Ukrainian dance!

Let's Speak Russian.... No, Ukrainian!

2011-06-25T10:42:00.002-07:00

Dobry Dyen! This means "good day", or "hello", and is commonly used here in Ukraine. As many of you know, I (Brad) studied hard to learn some Russian before we came here to adopt Nikolai who was at an orphanage near the Black Sea. Russian was Nikolai's first language, so it worked very well for communicating with him and vice versa. However, Nikolai ended up being adopted by another family. By God's grace, we have fallen in love with two brothers and we are in the process of adopting Valik (9) and Yuri (7). They are from an orphanage in Central Ukraine

In this village in central Ukraine, Ukrainian is spoken by everyone, and Russian is only used by older people, though it is understood by most. The languages are closely related and thankfully, share many words. However, many words are completely different. For example, the Russian word for "years" is "let". In Ukrainian the word is "rokeef". The result for me is a major brain strain! I speak mostly Russian to people here, and they understand me, but they respond in Ukrainian, and I don't understand them!

Here are a few simple words you might be interested in learning:

Prevyet: Informal for "hello"
Paka: Informal for "goodbye"
Jakuyu: "Thank you"
Duzhe preyemna "Nice to meet you"

Language learning is fun! You have to be willing to make a fool of yourself, but the people really appreciate your willingness to try. We would not have had the many opportunities to meet peopla and be invited into their homes if we didn't know a little of their language. So, Havareet pa Ukrainski! Paka!

Another Cultural Experience

2011-06-25T06:07:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, we were invited to a tiny Christian church to play worship music. Normally, the Wed. gathering is for an elderly women's group. However, Ivan's extended family came from the village also, so the tiny chapel was filled. Our listening comprehension is increasing, especially after four sermons in Ukranian! :D We had a fun time even though I often don't understand what the people are saying to me! This trip has definately been a cultural experience for us!

- Tessa

Names Chosen

2011-06-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

Although the adoption is not yet official, we were asked by our adoption coordinator to list the boys names as we would want them to appear on their American passports. She submitted these names for our court hearing on June 29.

We (Brad and Denise) sat down with each boy separately and asked them if they would want to keep their current name as well as receive a new name. We told them that they could choose to go by their new names in America or have people call them by their Ukrainian names. They both wanted to go by new names. Thus, they will keep their Ukrainain names as middle names. Since they are not little ones, we want them to feel free to switch back to their Ukrainian names if they wish.

"And you will be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall designate. You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. It will no longer be said, "Desolate"; But you will be called "My delight is in him." Isaiah 62:2-4

We then gave each one a list of five names from which to choose. We read the list several times so that they could hear the pronunciation of each name. Each boy chose his favorite name. We would like to share the significance of each name.

Denise's deceased father's name is James. In the Ukrainain and Russian Bibles, the book of James is written in cyrillic with a spelling and pronucation similar to Jacob. This name is pronounced "Yakov" in Ukraining. Valik chose the name Jacob. What is significant about this is that Denise's father (James) was fatherless at a similar age to the boys. He had painful memories from his childhood of when he was separated from his family for a long period of time while his father was dying of cancer. In many ways, it may have been less traumatic if he may have had one of his siblings along with him. We are grateful that these two brothers will have each other's companionship. We started the adoption process shortly after his death and hope to commemorate his compassion for the needy.

We also like the fact that Valik, by choosing to become part of our family, has chosen a new birthright. The character Jacob of the Old Testament obtained his brother's birthright through unscrupulous means, but Valik has chosen his new birthright in an honorable way, and in a way that will benefit his brother, instead of harm his brother (as the Jacob of the Bible did).

In the New Testament, the book of James (English Bible) is is pronounced "Yakov", or Jacob (Russian and Ukrainain Bibles). Our adoption was motivatd by a key verse from James...

James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

JACOB/James
Meaning -"Supplanter, Nurturer"
Spiritual Conotation - "Benevolent"
Jacob - Hebrew name
Verse - 1 John 2:17 "And the world is passing away and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever."

We have observed that Jacob or Valik has been a nurturer to his younger brother, Yuri. He truly seems to watch out for his best interests.

VALIK/Valentin - Latin root, "Valent"
Meaning - Strong, Valiant
Historical role model - St. Valentine
Verse - Ephesians 6:10 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might."

Yuri listened to the list of possible names and chose the name, Jonas. Jonas is a family name from Brad's forefathers in Sweden. His Swedish forefathers feared the Lord This proclamation of the gospel was brought to America which eventually resulted in establishing Jessie Lake Baptist Church in northern Minnesota.

It is interesting that Yuri chose a name that sounds like one of his nick names, Yuras. The J sound in his name can be alternated with a Y sound in Swedish and Ukrainain i.e. Yonas. The name Yuri in English is George.

Jonas is the Swedish translation for Jonah who was an Old Testament prophet. Jonah 2 is the prayer of this prophet which is concluded with verse 9. "But I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord."

JONAS/Jonah - Hebrew
Meaning - Dove
Spiritual Conotation - Declarer of Joy and Salvation
Verse - Acts 4:20 "We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we have seen and heard." Acts 27:22 "And now I exhort you to be of good cheer."

YURI - Greek
English Translation - George
Meaning - Land Worker
Spiritual Conotation - Walks with God
Verse - Gen. 5:24 "And Enoch walked with God."

The meaning of Jonas fits Yuri for he has a joyful nature. He seems to be more carefree. They both fit the birth order pattern. Some resources list the implied meaning of a dove to be "peaceful". We also noticed that Yuri has the potential to be a hard working land worker. We have found him to be dragging tree parts that have been cut into a pile. He also likes to harvest fruit from the trees. We pray that both of these dear little boys will walk with God.

We have observed the boys trying out their new names. Sometimes we hear them whispering their new names to themselves or even calling out to each other with their new names. We are glad that they are excited about them and were involved with the decision making process.

Our Host Family

2011-06-23T03:49:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed to stay in a nice home, within a fifteen minute walk from the orphanage. The family on the top, is the family that's letting us rent the home they have been building. They have been very gracious, and are very kind. Natasha, the mom, sometimes gives us some odds and ends of food. :) My mom likes to help her with her laundry, etc. They are a typical villiage family, very down-to-earth people. Some Ukrainian homes have a Summer kitchen that's outside in like a barn sort of thing. They work all the time unless it is a Holiday. They have a farm. Nikolai, the dad is a mechanic, and Natasha is a worker at the orphanage. They slaughter their own animals, and are very resourceful with the different parts. They eat alot of it, even the heart, fat, liver, stomach, and well lots of things! :P We had a delicious meal with them a little while back, here are some pictures!

{On the top: Natasha and Nikolai. They also have two daughters: the older daughter is 15, her name is Yulia, and the younger one is 6, and her name is Olga.}

Mom assisted Natasha with her grand feast. This salad is very common here. It has cucumbers, tomatoes, green onion, olive oil, salt and fresh dill from their garden.

One of their really sweet, and in a funny way cute, dogs. This one is Jessa. Seeing her makes me miss our dog Shelby! :( :)

Nikolai is a mechanic. Dad visited his shop, and he said that there are no machines to hoist the engine parts and heavy equipment! He also told Dad that he loves to go fishing, but he doesn't have any time because he has to work all of the time. He used to work for an employer, but he only got paid $100 a month, so now he is self-employed and rarely takes time off of work.

Natasha holding an ostrich egg! Yes, they do have them here, although we havn't seen one.

2011-06-21T03:07:00.000-07:00

Today we said our goodbye's to all of the orphans. They sped off, some to Italy to be hosted, and some to a camp nearby. They're going to be gone for about a month, so we won't be able to see them again on this trip. :( They went away because there was going to be some work done on the orphanage. Thankfully, the director let our boys stay at the orphanage.

Sasha

Oleg and Vania

Ruslana

Tania

Tania's sister: Katya

Yarik

Mom with the boys behind the bus, glad that they can stay here.

Crazy Family =P

We played with some twisties and pompoms. We made some interesting things! Lol =P

I told you it got crazy! :D

Dad with his glasses and mustache :P

Mom with her antennaes, and Valentine with his Spider.

We call Yuri our little monkey :D Here he is climing a tree, picking berries.

Yuri on Dad's shoulders

They showed us their new bedroom. Mom and Dad had some snuggle-time with them, and read some books. ;)

Ukrainian Festival

2011-06-20T00:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday was one full day! In the morning we went to a graduation ceremony, in which a few of the older kids from the orphanage were graduating. In the evening we went with the orphanage to a large Ukrainian festival for kids in the center of the town. We didn't care much for the entertainment, which was just a bunch of dressed up clown type people dancing to recorded pop music, but we enjoyed looking at the exibits, listening to Ukrainian folk music in a booth and just spending time with the boys. ;)

Tessa splurging on cotten candy. ;) It may have been a first for the boys becuase Yuri thought it looked disgusting, but Valik really liked it.

You can imagine the fun Yuri and Valik had on these!

You can't tell from here, but those flags are being held by junior Olympic skiiers representing Ukraine. One of the girls was a former champion in the Junior Olympics. Two nights after the festival I drempt that I was picked to be a soccer player in the Junior Olympics, but I soon awoke to the painful reality! ;)

They loved the trampoline. =)

An older lady in a traditional Ukrainian costume looking at the kid's art exibit.

A view from the stands.

Posted by AnaLise

Ukrainian Fellowship

2011-06-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

We had a very full day today! Our brother in Christ first took us to the town bazaar, where we purchased some delicious sausage. Then, we returned the Russian-made fan that only worked for 20 minutes. They exchanged the fan for another one of unknown origin. We hope it lasts a bit longer. From there, we returned to our home, dropped off our purchases, and picked up our instruments on the way to church.

Church was located in a village some 15 kilometers from our town. The countryside is beautiful, with rolling hills, farm fields, and patches of forest. It looks a bit like Wisconsin. We arrived in the village, and stopped at Ivan's house to pick up his family. We walked to the church building, which was a former store. We were greeted by about 30 people who attend this small church. Part of the way through the service, we were asked to play some of our music for them. We played a song and sat down. Then, the pastor asked if I (Brad) would preach to them! I wasn't prepared for this, but did so nonetheless. I preached on James chapter 1, and focused on having joy in the midst of suffering (which Ukrainians have done much of throughout history), as well as keeping ones self unstained from the world (from the end of chapter one). I talked about the dangers of the love of money, and how this has corrupted many, and about how easy it is for one to lose their dependency on God.

The service was very nice, and the people very friendly to us. We really enjoyed fellowshipping with these Ukrainian believers.

Here is one of the families who attend this church. They were very sweet people with five children, and one more on the way! We hope to see them again soon. Most Ukrainians now have small families, but the Christians in this church are bucking that trend! One family has eight children. In fact, the local school was close to having to shut down due to a lack of children. Now, because of these Christians, the school will remain open!

Here are our friends, who have blessed us so much already. After church, they treated us to a wonderful meal of borscht (beet-root soup), and vareniki (dumplings with potatoes and cabbage inside). They are subsistance farmers like my Swedish and Norwegian grandparents who settled the land in northern Minnesota. Virtually everything they eat was either raised (animals) or grown by them. The food was delicious, and the fellowship sweet.

Luda in her kitchen standing next to her pot of borscht.

Luda's vareniki. Yum yum!!!

After a long day of much walking (we walk a TON here every day in the heat), you can see the effect of such walking on Tessa's feet. I (Brad) hope all this walking will offset all the eating I am doing from the kind hospitality we are receiving!

Holy Kiss

2011-06-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

As we approached our first Sunday in this small town, we prayed that we would meet someone to fellowship with on Sunday. God answered our prayer in a very amazing way. While working on some crafts with the orphans in an upstairs room, a Ukrainian man whom we had never seen arrived in the room with a bag full of ice cream treats for the kids. He quickly inquired about us, and we began to talk with him. Upon learning that we were from America and were here to adopt, we began to take turns speaking in bits of English and bits of Russian. At one point, Denise exclaimed in Russian and exclaimed "Slava Bog!" which means "Praise God!" He turned and stared at us and excitedly asked, "Are you Christians?" When we replied that we were, he hugged us and greeted us with a holy kiss as stated in Scripture, "Greet one another with a holy kiss." It turns out that Ivan is a dedicated Christian man who visits the children regularly, and takes some of them to his home to spend time with his family.

He has known our boys for several years, and has prayed for someone to adopt them. He told us that Valik has been asking for a family. Ivan is so excited that we are the answer to his intercession on behalf of Valik. Ivan is also planning to adopt one boy, Yurik, from the orphanage, even though they have four litttle ones (soon to be five as his wife is pregnant). We were SO HAPPY to hear that, because Yurik has no siblings, and is one of the sweetest children at the orphanage. He will soon have a daddy and mommy.

Tomorrow, Ivan will take us to a nearby village to a service in a small church that used to meet in a house, but now meets in a small building that used to be a store. We are eager to meet these fellow believers tomorrow. This was a direct answer to prayer.

Our Neighborhood

2011-06-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a neighbor lady taking her goat for a walk. Most neighbors have livestock no matter how big or small the size of their property.

This is the view outside our front window.

This is the view off of our back steps. Our gracious hosts are living in their older home shown here and renting out their newer home to us. Natasha has apologized for their not having chairs for the table nor a sink in the house we are renting, but we have assured her that we are very grateful to be getting to know their family and living within walking distance to the orphanage. She also mentioned how it would take two months of wages to buy just two chairs. We are blessed to help them gain some earnings with our rent and they are blessing us.

It is always an adventure to assimilate into a culture... although we did buy a fan today to help us sleep at night. It has been very hot. The fan did not work for more than 20 minutes and now it is history. Brad has been requesting receipts to keep track of our budget, but every store here has told him that they don't give out receipts. We hope they will refund this item. Every day is a learning curve! Thank you for reading about our adventures.

The view down a quiet village street near the Notary that witnessed our signatures on many adoption documents.

AnaLise waiting with us for our Notary appointment.

This is the home we are renting. Every yard here is resourcefully used for growing vegetables. When we were trying to explain in Russian (since our Ukrainian is more than lacking) that we live in a semi-rural area, we decided to show a picture of our front yard. The man furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Why is your yard not filled with potatoes? Lazy?" In other words, what use is there in a front lawn? Food for thought. There are many hard working gardeners here.

More fun pics!

2011-06-16T22:52:00.001-07:00

This is a picture after the boys had said their official "yes." We were so excited, and continue to be so! Dad said that after they had said their first "yes" to them privately in their dorm rooms, that they had the brightest smiles on their faces. =)

Here is Valentine on the right, and little Maxime, their little neighbor friend.

{On the top: Tania is a really sweet girl who is ten. She has a sister who is thirteen, and also is nice and a little reserved.} The woman beside her is a full-time worker at the orphanage. Our hostess, Mrs. Natasha N., works full-time at the orphanage as well. Her husband told my dad that she gets paid $100 a month.
The kids really enjoyed making jewelry out of beading material that the Wanschuras bought for the orphans. (Thank you!)

We sometimes have a little time with the boys in a seperate room....this one got a little crazy! Well the stuffed animals appeared, and dad and Yuri had a little stuffed animal play/fight! :P

The kids were really intrigued with Skype!

Mom and Dad having a sweet time with them, playing with their sticker books.

Water balloons are a great investment. We stocked up on them at Walmart, and later after we had flown over here, we wished we had brought more! (They're really expensive here!) On a really hot day in the 90's, it's really fun to do a waterballoon toss. The kids have a blast!

Here we are lined up, with Dad giving us instructions.

They Said "Yes"!

2011-06-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

We are happy to introduce you to two wonderful boys that we are in the process of adopting, Lord willing. This is Valik, age 9, after he and his brother told the Director that they want to be adopted by us.

Below is a photo of Yuri, age 7, after he officially announced his decision. It truly was a blissful day. The Lord's mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. Lam. 3:23 We continue to covet your prayers for the adoption to proceed smoothly. Thank you!

Decision Day

2011-06-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (Thursday) will be decision day for the boys. They are going to be asked if they want to be adopted by our family. We are very excited, nervous, and full of anticipation as we prepare for bed tonight. We have been waiting on the Lord regarding this life changing decision and we feel led to move forward. We believe that if the boys say "yes" to our adopting them, we are to move forward. Personally, we think that they are adorable. Indeed, they are active boys full of life. We had a very good day with the older boy today. He was very hesitant around us at first, but we appreciate that he seems to have been studying us. His little brother has been very open to us from the beginning, even though they were both painfully shy at our first meeting. Can you imagine how scary it must be for an orphan to enter a room to meet prospective parents? Please pray for God's will to be done! If the door remains open after our big meeting, we will post pictures of the boys. Grateful for your support, Brad and Denise

Reflections from Denise

2011-06-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

We are in a small village in Central Ukraine. Although we were impressed with the beautiful architecture in Kiev, it has been a breath of fresh air to exit the hustle and bustle of the city. This village reminds me of visits to my relatives in south-western Ireland. The pace of life is much simpler here.

By God's grace, we were blessed to have a worker from the orphanage rent her home to us. This will help us save on meals as we will have access to their kitchen. It has been enriching getting to know a Ukrainian family. We have always tried to avoid the tourist route in our travels and thus we are delighted to get immersed in an authentic Ukrainian community. Our main challenge is that Ukrainian is the language spoken here. We studied some Russian when we were in Kazakhstan, so we continued on that path to prepare for our trip here. Russian is understood, but Ukrainian is more polite in this area. We want to be respectful of our hosts, so we are trying to quickly learn some Ukrainian.

As you know we were faced with a time of intense grieving over the loss of two boys that we had come to love. We are so grateful for the loving responses we received. One verse was a promise from 1 Cor. 2:9, "But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

Sometimes detours in life are extremely difficult. We have committed this path unto Him and so instead of returning home, we remain here in Ukraine on a journey of faith. We could not do this without your support. We are dependent upon the Body of Christ. We ask you to intercede on our behalf because we are considering adopting a set of brothers, ages 9 and 7, that we have dearly enjoyed getting to know these last three days. In fact, we would love to find homes for some other precious souls here at this small orphanage. Because it is summer, the orphanage has given us ample time to organize games, play music, play sports and do sports. Today, we taught them the water balloon toss contest. About 14 of the kids participated, and they had so much fun, they didn't want to stop! We have also played a LOT of frisbee, and soccer. Like most kids in Ukraine, they LOVE soccer, and are very good players.

Orphanage Visit

2011-06-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Today we visited an orphanage with frisbees, sidewalk chalk, and snacks. We had a wonderful time visiting with the children and playing sports. More like playing soccer, soccer, and more soccer! ;) <3 I'm not sure if the kids had ever played with frisbees before but they caught on quick and loved playing catch. Sometime this week we are hoping to teach them to play one of our favorite sports, Ultimate Frisbee. The children were all really sweet to play with, and it made my heart ache to see all these beautiful kids with out homes or families.

Dad was a stellar goalie; unfortunately for my team!

This was definitely one of the smaller orphanages we have been to...the grand total of kids was only eighteen! Being that there are so few of them, they all are like brothers and sisters to each other and the older ones look out for the younger ones.

One thing that also surprised us was that instead of finding younger children at this orphanage there was quite a number of older boys. That made the soccer games more competitive but more fun at the same time. =)

The younger kids loved the sidewalk chalk! This is a picture of one of the two girls that I met at the orphanage...what a sweet heart!

Overall, we had a wonderful and exhausting day spending time with children of all ages and we can't wait to come back again!

2011-06-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pictures from yesterday:

{Elaina and I are secretly conspiring to grow our hair out as long as Repunzels. =D}

We spent some more time with our friends, the Dillner family.

Here Caleb is measuring my hair length, he informed me that it is 52. I wasn't quite sure what 52 stood for, but I don't think I'm quite to the length of Repunzel yet... ;)

A statue dedicated to all the people who starved to death in the Great Famine.

Tessa also got her portrait done! =)

Food from our favorite cafe, The Posata Hata.

One of my favorite statues so far...or at least one of the most interesting!

Mom and Dad by the water fountain that I thought looked like a Dandelion. ;)

We walked outside to see this...I don't think I have ever seen anyone paint in the rain before! =P

2011-06-13T01:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we did some sightseeing. Prior to the trip we had done a unit study on Russia and Ukraine. We visited some war monuments and cathedrals. History comes alive especially in the architecture. At the park there was beautiful scenery overlooking the river and capital city. Later in the day, we stopped and ate some food at our favorite Ukrainian deli restaurant. We also cook at our apt. because we have a kitchen.

AnaLise had her portrait done. The artist did a really great job!

We have high speed internet, so Dad is able to work. We are getting much exercise walking to the grocery store, government appointments, etc. When we are at the apartment after chores; we've been playing some intense rounds of Canasta; adding in some games of Split; doing family devotionals (occasionally downloading a excellent sermon by John Piper), blogging, checking emails, and skyping, and doing some other odds and ends. =)

This is a monument commemerating all the people who died of starvation during the war. My parents recommend the book, Harvest of Sorrows, which depicts the horrible famine. Ukraine was known as the bread basket of the former Soviet Union.

We went to a monastery. Here is one of their beautiful cathedrals.

Pictured is Orthodox people saying their prayers. There were many ornate icons which we learned about while studying the Byzantine Empire.

Many intricate paintings and icons

A golden dome towering above the city

There are many beggars in the streets, with ragged clothes, bare-feet, and sorrowful faces pleading for money.

Here we are at the Subway, ready to board it.

AnaLise got her portrait done. She said that afterward she felt as if she would never be able to sit up straight again. =P We think it turned out great, and looked a ton like her!

Saturday Adventures & update

2011-06-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had no appointments, so we had a neat time touring the interesting sights that fill the streets and byways that occupy the capital of Ukraine. The center of Kiev remindes me quite a bit of the Minnesota State Fair! ;) There are little vendors that look just like fair vendors lining the sidewalks and groups of musicans stand on street corners with their own sound systems to add an upbeat ring to the city. Being that is a holiday weekend, some main streets in the city center are closed off so people can walk freely on the roads...just like the fair!

Another thing I really enjoy about Kiev is their subway station. I love riding on their lightning fast subway, and taking the longest escalaters you have ever seen! The picture above is when our family was playing music at one of these subway stations. Ukraine needs hope. We pray that our music and our smiles will be a blessing to these people. As we were playing, people started tossing coins toward our closed cases. When we were finished, we gathered up the money and gave it to the elderly beggars near us. They were shocked with the donations, so we responded in Russian with "Jesus loves you." The elderly survive on very little pension. My heart aches for these forgotten homeless and disabled beggers, some without feet, some without shoes. Their faces look as empty as the cups they are holding.

{Dedicated to Mrs. Godin =D)

It's a little hard to tell, but this picture is of a worker in the mall who is ironing plastic bags! Talk about resourceful...=P

After playing at the Subway Station, we went out to eat with some friends of ours who are also adopting from Ukraine. The food here is Ukrainian, and I really enjoy trying their different dishes. Borschdt soup is one of my favorites; the broth is made out of beet juice and it has pieces of cabbages, beets, and depending on the store, beef. It doesn't sound amazing but it's delicous!

The kids table: Tessa, myself, Caleb, Elena, and Katelyn.

Caleb and Elena are the two adorable kids that the Dillners just adopted. We visited their orphanage with them and met lots of their sweet friends. We brought balloons for all of the orphans because it was Elena's birthday party.

This is a juggler that we see almost daily. He acts like he is part of the toybox, and will stand as still as a statue until someone comes and puts money into the little box in front of him. Then he begins his show of jugging multiple balls and keeping the crowd entertained for a few minutes. Then he becomes like a toy that needs to be wound up until someone once again comes and drops money into his box. It's pretty fun to watch, and although he's a fairly good juggler, it's even more amazing to me how still he can stand and how long he can go without barely blinking! =D

That pretty much concludes the events of yesterday, but what we do not have on the camera is the grieving and letting go of Nikolai and Dima. We know that God works everything for good, and that His ways our higher then ours. We are seeking his guidance for what step to take next, and for what direction He wants us to take. On Tuesday, we will be visiting an orphanage a few hours south of Kiev to meet a pair of brothers, ages 9 and 7. Please pray for discernment.

"The strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours." John Piper

"But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.' -1 Corinthians 2:9

Intense Sadness and Seeking the Lord

2011-06-11T03:07:00.000-07:00

We have been in Ukraine now for almost one week, and it has been an emotional roller-coaster. The two boys we have loved and cherished for more than a year, one of which we have hosted in our home in Wisconsin twice, and visited in Ukraine once, have now been given to a couple from another country. It is a complicated story. If you would like more details, please contact us. We are wrestling with intense feelings, but we are seeking the Lord in our hurt. Please pray for us as we commit our ways unto Him. Pray for clear direction. Perhaps God will show us another child or set of children we are to adopt while we are here. His ways are higher than our ways.

"But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him." Psalm 37:39-40

Grateful for your support,

Brad and Denise

Random Happenings in Kiev

2011-06-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

Today we did similar things like the other days we've spent here, except for one big emotional rollercoaster, which Mom or Dad will talk about in a later post. Well, here are some pictures from today!

LOL, Mom and Dad are posing here, copying the statue! :P

We went to a an open air market where they like to barter. AnaLise thought the mandolin on the left looked cute :D

This is a traditional Ukrainian costume hand- embroidered.

They had many matryushka dolls there. They have really pretty hand painted designs on them.

Another atraction was their chess sets, they were beautifully hand carved pieces.

Another stall with embroidered items and clothing.

We had to wait a long time at the SDA office to get some documents notarized, here is AnaLise...waiting. =)

And Dad...:D Something interesting, yesterday while we were wandering about, Dad felt a little tug, someone attempted to pickpocket him! Thankfully, they were not succsessful. We are now holding our belongings even more tightly!

This is another photo of one of their cathedrals. It was right next to the office, so that was nice to pass by the time. :)

Here is a picture of a monument of three statues in front of a governmental building.

We continue trusting in the Lord, asking asking Him to direct our paths. We know that He has the best plan.

- Tessa Alzen

Around Kiev

2011-06-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Greetings from another sunny day in Kiev! It was a long and busy day, but we enjoyed walking the festive streets of Ukraine, and viewing magnificent monuments. Being that there is an eight hour time difference over here, it is quite late and I should really be heading to bed...even though we are night owls! =D Thus, I will let the pictures do the storytelling while I sleep. ;) Dasvidana!

Posted by AnaLise

Day #2 in stifling hot Ukraine!

2011-06-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hi! This is Tessa, jornaling about our adventures from yesterday! Our day was packed with

walking the crowded sidewalks/streets, getting stuck in a elevator (!) (I'll tell you about that later in this post,) exploring the city with all it's many vendors and booths, meeting our friends who have finished their adoption process and are going to be traveling to the States in a couple of weeks, trying to cummunicate with all of the Russian locals and tourists with our limited Russian skills, and overall enjoying this overseas adventure!

Here's some pictures from yesterday:

A look from outside one of our windows

ELEVATOR SCARE: We were going to look at an apartment, so a Russian lady brought us there. After going up one story, we found an elevator. The room was 6 stories up, so with her beckoning, we crammed into the tiny elevator despite mom's great hesitation. She pressed a few buttons and the door shut. Then she pressed a few more buttons, and the elevator wouldn't budge! She then tried to open up the door, but it also wouldn't budge! That's when we started to get a little scared. Next she called the land lady, and after a few calls she got a hold of her. After a lot of yelling, the landlady called some people. And after a lot of more Russian yelling, some people came up. But they didn't help. So we called our coordinator, and she eventually got ahold of some technicians. There were five of us crammed into the tiniest elevator you have ever seen. It was dark, and very hot (over 90 degrees ourside that day). We were so crammed we couldn't move, and the heat was intense! The air was stuffy and we were having trouble breathing fresh air so we pried a crack in the elevator to breath. Finally the technicians came. He pried the door open, and we came out exhausted. Yes, it was a quite tramatic experience, and we are glad we are alive! Our friends that are also adopting from Ukraine told us that they call the Ukrainian elevator "The Death Trap!"

Here is an old, hunched, lady. Trying to make her way through all of the crowds.

In this picture we are walking in a little villiage outside of Kiev, where we visited with our friends the Dillners. This villiage is where the orphanage that they adopted their two children from. We really enjoyed spending time there and had a fun time playing with the children. It was the Dillner's adopted girl that had her birthday party there, so the children at the orphanage sang songs, and we handed out some balloons, and had some ice cream.

We played some soccor with the kids and some of the orphanage workers.

Here the Dillners and us are blowing up balloons

There was a happy cheerful worker that sang songs with the kids, and danced with them.

Some of the kids eating snacks

The cute adorible kids, age 5 and under.

More kids! :D

There was an under ground subway that we took to go to the orphanage. We thought it was neat, cause it also had shops, and you cross the street going under it and not over!

2011-06-07T21:53:00.001-07:00

Our adventure has begun! This is AnaLise here, and I will be switching on and off with Tessa to bring you updates. On Monday, June 6th, (or rather June 7th in Ukraine, =) we headed off to begin our journey. Our first flight left at 7:30 P.M. We made it there swiftly with the exception of some passport confusion. The first flight on Delta went well. Being that we were on an overseas plane ride we had some added luxuries such as DVD screens on the back of the seats in front of us, complete with free movies to choose from, I chose Ice Age 3...what fun! That was an eight hour plane ride so we tried to get some sleep, but because of the fact that we were sitting up and that distracting movie screens were on around us (not the sounds of them though, thank goodness, because everyone had headphones,) we failed. :( While I was reading the Bible during the night God have me two verses out of Psalms that talk about how they will awake and praise Him on their beds and night, that they will praise Him during the day and through the night. So that is what I decided to do. There is so much to praise the Lord for! Just look around. On the plane I saw gorgeous puffy clouds, and a clear blue sky. I saw part of my beautiful family occupied with the task of getting to sleep, I saw people from many different countries, all created in God's image, speaking different languages.

"Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples, I will sing praises You among the nations. For your mercy is great above the heavens. And your truth reaches to the clouds. Psalm 108:2-4

"The heavens declare the glory of God!" Psalm 19:1

After being given breakfast at 1:00 A.M. our time, but the regular breakfast time over there, we got off the plane and stepped onto Holland land. Next we switched from Delta to KLM in Amsterdam. This flight was quite a different experience from the first! There were many different languages being spoken on this flight, as there were missionaries from different countries as well as Ukrainian citizens all heading to Kiev, so the flight attendants had to speak in a variety of different languages to communicate, although Dutch was their preferred choice. This was not an overseas trip and this was not Delta so the ride was a bit more squished and did not have the 'added luxuries.' =)

Here we are at the Amsterdam airport sitting next to....what Mom thought looked like a Sunomi wrestler! We had no idea why it was plopped down in the middle of an airport, but they probably have a different idea of art over there! ;)

I love riding in planes so this was still an enjoyable flight for me, especially because my family graciously allowed me to have the window seat. It is so intriguing to look out above the clouds instead of under them, and it is also neat to look at the houses below as if they were miniature doll houses.
Dad described this flight as a bit of a roller coaster. The ride was was bumpy in different places, and sometimes it would plummet downwards, but I loved it! I wished that it had done that the whole way...it makes it more exciting. ;) Unfortunately there were a few people in the tightly packed plane who didn't feel the same way, and one of those people was sitting directly behind me. She was a girl younger than me who was very motion sick. Now my Dad can get motion sick on plane rides but not nearly this bad! We felt bad for her so we gave her our paper bags tucked into the seats in front of us. =P Besides that and a screaming baby, oh and a couple of rowdy Ukrainian men who either couldn't understand the language being used to speak the rules or they didn't want to follow them, we had a nice flight.

We arrived in the Kiev airport after lunch and from there we met our Ukrainian guide, Irina, that works with our adoption agency. She is a very sweet and informative lady that helped us shop for groceries at a local store and then brought us to our apartment. From there she gave us directions around the city and called the land lady for us to ask why there wasn't a kitchen table, chairs, or a washing machine. =P With the exception of those missing necessities the apartment was pretty nice with tall ceilings and open rooms. We will be deciding over the course of the next few days weather or not we will be staying here or moving to a different apartment.
Yes Mom hogged the bed and I, the poor Cinderella, got the floor. =) No, temperature was so hot out, and I was so tired, that I found the floor to be the most cool and spacious spot to sleep. I sleep well almost anywhere...even on the floor! We were all exhausted after 36 hours without sleep. Jet lag was starting to kick in, especially with the rest of the family. Dad got to sleep around 11:00 P.M., and got up at 3:00 in the morning, Tessa went to bed around 8:30, same time as me, but got up at 4:00 A.M. instead of the late and wonderful 7:30 that I got up at. ;) Mom also had a hard time sleeping, and is currently trying to take a nap in the middle of the day. There is a eight hour difference from back at home to over here in Ukraine, so everyone accept for me is struggling with pretty severe but normal cases of jet lag. Please pray that they will have quick recoveries.

The city of Kiev is quite pretty with many trees interspersed throughout. A famous Ukrainian writer once wrote that he has seen many gardens with in cities but Kiev was the first time he saw a city within a garden. There are very few if any English speaking citizens here, and we are getting quite the stares with our funny sounding language. I have already been asked questions in Russian, assuming that I am one of them, and I have responded that I speak and understand very little Russian...at which I get funny looks because I just responded to them in Russian! =)

Overall the trip to get here has gone well, and we are praising the Lord for a smooth arrival!

Ukraine!!!

2011-06-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Today we are going to board the plane and head to Ukraine! This time we're hoping to have some children or a child with us. Right now we are vigoriously packing. We are excited to see what God is going to do! We have been having many complications, but God's hand is still in it. Thankyou for your many prayers! We are trusting in the Lord, and praising Him for what He has already done.
In Christ's name,
Tessa Alzen

Watch Your Step

2011-05-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

High heels are the rage in Ukraine! If you want to stand out as a foreigner - wear casual, comfortable shoes. There seems to be two main categories of fashion: The Sleek Look or The Babushka Look (the grandmas wear comfortable, practical clothing). We can't imagine the physical pain one must feel at the end of the day from wearing high heels in streets strewn with mud puddles, upturned sidewalks, and numerous potholes. Watch out for uncovered manholes!
Hotel entrances usually have a shoe buffing machine near the entrance. Upon glancing at prices in the windows, shoes are expensive. Many women dress to the hilt even for small errands at the town square.

2011-04-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad are home!! They arrived this last Friday, at 11:30 P.M. As many of you know, my parents were in Ukraine, visiting Nikolai, who we are planning on adopting. This was not anything official, it was just a trip to see Nikolai, and to reassure him that we are coming to get him. Their visit was very purposeful, and was blessed by God. They had many appointments, showing that this was God's will. As they have said in some earlier posts, there are so many adorable kids there. :D It is heartbreaking for us to think that these children don't have parents to love them and guide them.

Here are some pictures of Nikolai's classroom.

My parents love to travel, and enjoyed they're time at Nikolai's orphanage. Unfortunately they did not get to see his younger brother Dmitri. Thank you for praying,

Tessa Alzen

Spending Time with Orphans

2011-04-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

Playing with the Children

The children all loved it when we played with them. Playing soccer, tossing frisbee, and blowing and chasing balloons were favorite activities. Here you see Brad making bubbles with a bubble wand.

Passing Out Gifts to the Children

Thanks to generous donors, we have had the privilege of distributing much needed items such as socks, underwear, dental hygiene items, sports equipment, etc. to the orphanage. In addition, every day when we visit we bring two stuffed backpacks full of treasures for Nikolai to distribute to his friends. The children loved the balloons (sharikee in Russian), frisbees, toy animals, jewelry, bubble gum, sidewalk chalk, and miscellaneous gizmos we gave them.

Food of any kind was a big hit. They devour items like dried fruit, trail mix, bananas, etc... We even watched some boys fight over a carrot. Truly humbling to observe. Many of them are so thin and small that they look years younger. Nikolai eats just about everything we bring for him.

Adventures in Izmail

2011-04-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

Bulgarian Friend

We met this Bulgarian man in our small hotel courtyard as he is the groundskeeper. He is an extremely friendly fellow. As Brad and he spoke in Russian, Brad told him about his love of fishing. It turns out that this fellow likes to fish, too. He invited Brad to go fishing with him when we return to Izmail. This is one small example where knowing some Russian makes our experience so much richer.

Ukrainian Fare

Travel is such an adventure. We try to eat wherever the locals eat because then the prices are cheaper and we get to taste local cuisine. Some of our favorite Ukrainian dishes have been Borschdt Soup and Viriniki which are potato dumplings. We have gotten to know a dear worker from the orphanage whom we hosted in the states. She had us over twice in her cozy abode. What a delight to have home cooking abroad. She is such a dear lady who lost her husband at the age of 49. Similar to our past travels in Kazakhstan and Poland, people often die young or age more quickly. We feel compassion for the many elderly women begging in the streets or selling their humble wares. This picture is of a man from the middle east selling shawirma wraps. They are popular on the street for walking and eating quickly ("Fast Food") and consist of shaved meat (usually lamb or chicken), potatoes, Korean shaved carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, garlic sause, and sometimes humus and hot sauce. The whole mess is wrapped in a thin bread (sort of like a tortilla) and then heated on a little grille. Yum! We love these, and wish they had them in the U.S.A.

Izmail Church

We were blessed to meet fellow Christians in a small local church. They meet in a church which is located under a street. We went through a series of gates to get there. They have started a Life Care Center to help pregnant women. They also give free eight-week classes regarding Biblical principles in child rearing and marriage. The result of communism has left a devestating mark on families. As a result, abortions are rampant as well as single parenting. It is not uncommon for a woman to have 8-10 abortions in a lifetime. Of course, these are problems we have in America as well. The people from this church were very friendly and welcoming. We went out for pizza after church, and it was very good!

English Maritime Institure

2011-04-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

We were invited to be guests of the English Maritime Institute of Izmail. We were the guest "teachers" for their class period this day. We shared about our family, our home, and what we were doing in Izmail. Then, we had the students take turns asking us questions. We enjoyed the class period very much, and later one student was delighted to practice English when we saw him at the bus station on our way to Odessa.

We met a lot of people who could speak a few Awords of English, but few who were fluent. All seem to be appreciative at our attempts to speak Russian. One clerk told us that when she visits America, she needs to speak English. Thus, she wishes that all Americans would speak Russian when they visit here. Language learning is a fun puzzle, and it opens us so many doors when people see that you try to speak their language. We did all of our shopping, including purchasing our bus tickets, in Russian. It was fun!

Fun with Nikolai

2011-04-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

We got some alone time to play with Nikolai outside today. Here you see Denise showcasing her soccer goalie skills!

Orphanage Arrival

2011-04-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

We made it to Ukraine!!!

After two long days of travel, we made it to Nikolai's town and orphanage in Ukraine. We felt nervous anticipation as we walked into the place we have been thinking and praying about for so long. We were greeted by several children in the courtyard outside. Once we got upstairs, we were brought to the section of the orphanage for children Nikolai's age. He was in one room playing with all the children (about 16 of them). At first he was shy, but then he came running to us and gave us big hugs. We were so glad to be hugging Nikolai again. It was like we were back at home with him. He couldn't get enough of our attention. We had a sweet time of playing with him, looking at pictures of our time in the U.S.A., and snuggling on his bed. He was proud to show us his room, his empty closet, and where each of his roommates slept. He was also excited to play with his new remote-control car. It seemed to really mean a lot to him that we had entered his world. We thank God for this precious reunion.

Nikolai was happy to introduce us to each of his friends by name. They are wonderful children, and we pray they each will find a home. We spent much of the afternoon playing with them all. We could see the love in the two workers that we met at the orphanage. They work very hard, and for very little pay...the main problem is that there are not enough workers. We tried to thank them for pouring themselves into these children.

Here we are with one of Nikolai's teachers, and one of the sweetest people we know in the whole world. She has a heart of gold and loves each of those children like she is their mother.

She also fed us a wonderful meal of borscht (beetroot soup) and dumplings with potato filling.

We are here during lent. Luba attends the Eastern Orthodox church.

Here we are holding Nikolai on the banks of the Danube River. On the other side of the river is Romania. You can travel all the way to Germany from here by river. Strangely, the river was not blue, and nobody was waltzing:). The picture does not do the scene justice. There is a dangerous cliff beyond us where every year some careless person plunges to their death. Needless to say, we held on to Nikolai very tightly and would not let him get within 10 feet of the drop off. He seems grateful for our protection. We love him so much. God is good.

2011-03-07T09:52:00.000-08:00

James 1:27

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Timing update

2011-02-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

Beginning March 9, 2011 our dossier will be reviewed by Ukraine. Typically, it takes a few weeks for review and then a court date is assigned approximately two months later. Lord willing, we hope to be approved and assigned a court date this spring. We would then go to Ukraine and return to the U.S. with two precious brothers. Please join us in praying for God's timing and for the process to go smoothly.

We have been able to speak to Nikolai once by phone and once by Skype since his departure in January. He said he is waiting for us. We have had no contact with Dmitri since his release date is not until April. We are so eager to hug them both.

Love in Christ,
Denise

Sad goodbye's

2011-01-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

Nikolai left on Jan. 9th. It was really hard to let him go. He was such a great blessing when he was here. Here are some pictures at the airport when he left.

Nikolai and some of the other orphans waving goodbye.

Lena, Nikolai, another Nikolai, and Max

Skiing

2011-01-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Nikolai is such a burst of energy. Almost every day I'll get pulled outside to go skiing or play in the snow. This little goof ball adds lots of smiles and giggles to our family. Nikolai has really matured a lot since the last hosting program.

Nikolai really enjoys skiing. It's fun to ski with him in our back yard, even if he falls about every minuet. :P In this picture he's going down the path to our chicken coop, and Shelby, our dog is racing ahead.

2010-12-30T12:27:00.000-08:00

On Christmas eve we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house. My mom's family gathered there. We had a really fun time. Nikolai always loves seeing our relitives, so he had a blast. Here's some pictures from Christmas eve.

Nikolai and our cousin Jack

Isaac playing pingpong against AnaLise

Lucas holding a candle during the Christmas reading

Our dog, Shelby

Grandma Pat giving Nikolai a present

What a fun time we had!!

NIKOLAI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

Yes!!!!!! He's here! We've had such a blast with Nikolai. Here's some pictures of our exciting experience at the airport.

The first looks.....

pictures......

smiles......

and at last...hugs. :D

Yes he's finally here! :D We've had such a blast with him. I'm sorry I haven't been blogging about him lately. I've been so busy, even though it's Christmas break. :P

Nikolai is doing great, as normal. Very energetic, full of giggles, dramatic in a funny sense, helpful, and of course loving.

Nikolai came on Dec. 19th. He was very sleepy, and a little confused with all the people there. But he was very excited and happy at the same time. It was a very different experience hosting a second time. It was so great to see other families host like we did, who were anticipating for the first time the delight and hardships of having a orphan in their family.

What a delight it's been to have him here. He is such a bright spark of light in our family.

Adoption Fundraiser Concert - November 19

2010-11-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

On November 19 at 6:30 p.m. we are hosting an adoption fundraiser event at Faith Community Church in Hudson, Wisconsin at 777 Carmichael Road. The Alzen Family Band will be joined on stage by the Great Adventure Gospel Band. David and Kris Garms are joined by six of their children and a multitude of instruments to make up this dynamic family band. A silent auction with gift baskets and gift cards galore as well as a bake sale will begin at 6:30, with the concert to begin about 7:00. A caricature artist and juggler will add to the fun. Refreshments will be available. Bring your family and invite your friends!

October Update

2010-10-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family! Thanks to many of you who have inquired about the timing of our adoption. As some of you may know, during the hosting program we discovered that Nikolai has a younger brother, Dmitry, age 4 in another orphanage for younger children. We believe that they have been separated for around two years. When we showed Nikolai a photo of his brother, his face became soft and after some moments of reflection, he said, "Ï want Dima to live here with us." We assured him that we wanted to adopt his little brother as well.

Dmitry's release date is not until next April. Siblings need to be adopted on the same date. Thus, although it is difficult to wait longer, we are grateful that Nikolai will have his brother to partake in this journey together. What a gift from God to have a companion! We seem to be doing our parenting in pairs... two boys, two girls and now two boys again. God is so good.

We are hoping that Nikolai can visit here again over Christmas break through ECAS. We were informed that Dmitry would be too young to travel abroad. We are so eager to hug Nikolai again.

Many have asked us if we've had any contact with Nikolai since his return. We did talk to him once by phone and have tried several other times. We have tried to SKYPE him on a weekly basis during the alloted time set by the orphanage, but we have not been successful. However, we send him letters regularly with stickers, photos, drawings, etc.

Some have inquired about the cost of adopting two versus one. The cost has gone up from what we were originally anticipating and yet we trust the Lord to assist us in bringing them both home. For those who wish to contribute, you may make checks out to the Alzen Adoption Fund. Thank you all for the many ways you have supported us. We are so grateful that we are not alone in this journey. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Leaving memories

2010-09-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of Nikolai when he was with us.

We really miss him! Keep praying that the adoption would go through and that the government would let us adopt Nikolai and his brother Dima. Thanks!

This was at the airport before they introduced us to Nikolai. Beside him are his friends; Bogdon, Lena, Dima, and Misha.

Mom and Nikolai at the airport

AnaLise and Nikolai

Nikolai and his friend Max

Grandma and Nikolai

Nikolai exclaiming ''what a big strawberry!'' (in Russian)

Nikolai got a new toy from Uncle Mark that he loved.

Having fun at a birthday party.

Isn't he adorable!!!

A call to Nikolai

2010-09-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hello! It has been three weeks since Nikolai's departure. So dad decided he wanted to call up Nikolai. So today called one of the orphanage directors that we had met, and she gave the phone to Nikolai. Nikolai has always been kind of shy on phones, but he knew it was us, and I talked to him I would say "Nikolai!" and he would respond faintly "Tessa!". He sort of did that with all of us.

Soon we're going to do Skype on the computer with him.

Nikolai's sad leaving

2010-08-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

August 19 was a really hard day for us, it was the day when we had to take Nikolai to the airport.

When we were at home getting ready to leave he didn't want to go. And some days before that we would tell him that he would have to leave in two days, he would get a really twisted up face and go in the bathroom to cry. He had told us many times that he didn't want to go back, and and that he wanted to stay here, and, he wanted us as his family.

It was a really emotional for us the next few days at home after he left.

Here's some pictures of us at the airport.

Nikolai has been such a blessing to our family and we miss him VERY much.

Please keep on praying for our adoption journey of Nikolai and his brother Dima.

Nikolai's little brother Dmitry

2010-08-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hi, followers!! We have some exciting news! Nikolai has a brother! He is four years old. His name is Dmitry and his nickname is Dima. We think there is some resemblances between him and Nikolai. We plan to adopt them together. Mom and Dad will post more details later. Keep posted!!

Here is Dmitry. Isn't he cute!

Our little engineer

2010-08-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

One day mom brought out a toy that we hadn't used in a long time that Lucas used to use. It was this electronic device where you hook up different thing to get some sort of static that makes weird sounds. So mom got this out and showed it to Nikolai. His face immediately lit up and he started to take the pieces out and put them together. Lucas helped him with a pattern. During the procedure he would say in Russian, very interesting, and very good.

He had a bright smile on his face most of the time, and when he didn't he had a concentrating face.

Here he is listening to the different sounds which I can here now as I blog.

He was sitting on the table :l

Here's his concentrating face

And why I titled this post "our little engineer" is he's always figuring out things, and putting things together.

How he broke his arm

2010-08-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard about his broken arm here's how it happened:

It's pretty simple. He is a very active boy, so he was jumping and running and he fell on a tree root in a weird position on his arm. He went running to mom and dad with tears streaming down his face. So mom and dad rushed him off to the hospital.

Here's an x-ray taken after the doctor straightened Nikolai's arm. Both the radius and ulna were fractured, but no surgery was required. The doctor did a great job!

On the first trip to the doctor he was really scared. But when he got his hard cast on he was more calm. He got a bright orange cast placed over the white bandage you see here.

Helping in the Chicken-coop

2010-07-28T12:37:00.001-07:00

A few days ago the boys cleaned out the chicken coop. Nikolai likes to help but can get easily distracted. He loves animals, and loves to go to the chicken coop to get eggs and feed them, he can say chicken in English.

Nikolai always likes spraying the hose, so I bet he enjoyed spraying these feeding tins.

We haven't had chickens till last year so we had to clean it out a bit.

The boys laid some wood shavings on the inside of the coop.

We usually feed the chickens our scraps from after our meals so the chicken coop sort of became a compost. As you can see in this picture there are some vines in the coop, squash vines! Lucas also found some tomato plants, and black berry plants!

Sometimes Nikolai can get a little wild with the hose.

Nikolai's first banjo lesson

2010-07-27T16:42:00.000-07:00

Yes! Nikolai's learning the banjo, one of my favorite instruments! He was in the living room strumming the guitars and other instruments when he started strumming the banjo. We (dad and I) Showed him how pick separate strings. Then dad pulled out from our instrument closet a minnie banjo that I used to play when I started, and that I hadn't used in a long time. Then we brought out some banjo picks, it took him a while to get them on right, I realized they were too big for him. For they were the ones that I use, so I pulled out they tiniest picks I could find. I showed him how to use certain fingers for certain strings. Then I showed him three simple notes of a roll. he was delighted when he did this. He did it for a while and soon he got it down doing it slowly.

So I guess we're going to have another banjo player in the band!

Nikolai never lets his broken arm get in the way of things.

A Picnic

2010-07-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

The group of orphans and their host families got together and had a picnic at a park. Nikolai enjoyed seeing his friends and talking to them. He was limited though as to what he could do because of his broken arm. Most of the kids were swimming, but he was just wading and splashing in the water. He didn't let his broken arm slow him down. He received some stickers from a little girl, that he liked sticking on me and our family. It was kind of funny because one of them said, "Get well soon" on it and that really didn't apply to me.

Nikolai and his friend Bogdon had a blast talking together, and pointing, "this is my family!"

Another group shot of the children from Ukraine being hosted this month.

Smile, Nikolai!

The woman with the sunglasses is one of the orphanage workers from Ukraine. Her name is Luba. She has a fondness for the children from her orphanage. We find it interesting that Nikoai doesn't inquire about anyone from this group or from his country. Instead, he always wants to know the whereabouts of everyone in our family. Even at this group gathering with familiar faces from Ukraine, he would ask, "Where's Lucas?" in Russian. He is also becoming fond of friends from our church. Today he asked us when we could visit the Godins again. We are grateful that God is answering our prayers for the bonding process.

pictures at home

2010-07-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

Greetings! We have been having a lot of fun with our little guy, Nickolai. He is a very smiley, huggable guy. He is also very active. He likes to explore everything. He's not very picky with food which we like. Here's a few pictures of him at our house. I've found out that he calls me Chessa instead of Tessa. He calls Mom and Dad "Mama" and "Papa". He can say Isaac , Lucas, and AnaLise's names also.

He likes to play in Dad's boat. He found a pair of sunglasses somewhere around the house that he put to use.

Dad reading a children's Bible for devotional

We were very excited that he likes to pray and likes to look at pictures in a Bible.

Nickolai is very helpful, and in this picture he is doing the laundry with Lucas.

We sort of think he looks like Isaac when he was little.

He is definitely a hug buddy!

Nickolai's home coming

2010-07-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the airport waiting in anticipation to meet Nickolai. there were around twelve families in the hosting program that were there. We had a nice time meeting families who were also waiting to see their child. We also met our translator who would help us talk to Nickolai.

Then, after a long wait the kids came off of the plane and assembled in a corner. We all were looking and saying "There he is!" and, "He's so cute and tiny!"

Here he is with cute little pink flowered backpack.

Here's a group photo of all the kids

Nikolai was scared, tired, confused, and happy.

He loved to hug and was very affectionate. Nikolai mainly clung to mom and dad most of the time. We had given him a teddy bear that he also clung to. On the way home he slept mainly. And we soon found out that he was a hard sleeper and took a long time to wake up.

At home we introduced him to our dog Shelby and he was soon hugging her and petting her.

If you didn't know, Nikolai is 6 and almost 7 and he is quite small for his age.

Hosting program

2010-07-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

This picture of Nikolai is at least a year old, taken in the orphanage.

Some of the orphans in the hosting program. Nikolai is on the lower left.

Thank you everyone for praying for us. We now know officially that Nikolai is coming on July 18 for the hosting program! We're so exited. There was some complications with the visas in Ukraine, but thanks to your prayer God worked it out.

Sincerely, Tessa

for the Alzens

First Blog Post

2010-04-12T20:55:00.001-07:00

Thanks for visiting our new adoption blog. We are a family of six preparing to adopt an orphan boy from Ukraine. We are in the early stages of our adoption journey, but in the late stages of our home study. There will be much more to follow!