This was a busy weekend. Saturday morning we had our 6 week home Home Study update. That went really well. The Social Worker was very impressed with how well they have adapted. Glad that is behind us. Now we will be ready for the next one in six months. Saturday afternoon we had a pumpkin carving at the church. Here are some pictures of the kids participating in that. We then on Sunday had a party that a group from Keystone Heritage Park planned for the children. They got to see butterflies in the butterfly house, play in a maze, play in a wigwam, and have cake and ice cream. The party attendees also brought gifts for all the children. It was a wonderful celebration.

Oh, we did receive our citizenship papers this last week. So about 4 weeks was the norm.

Pictures

1. Opening gifts

2. Eating Cake and Ice Cream

3. Playing in the wigwam

4. Watching the butterflies

5. Carving Pumpkins

6. Carving Pumpkins

Enjoy. Have a great week.

Kevin, Tammy, Breanne, Shohn, Randi, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

First Day of School

Jaryd absolutely loved going to school today. We decided to put him in first grade because there was a class with only 15 students. All the second grade classes had 20+ students. He will get more one on one this way. He did great. Mom and Dad bought school supplies while he was in at school and got him ready for tomorrow. He can't wait. Jaryd's first words to Jacob after he got in the car today was "English Jacob, English." I think he now understand the importance of learning English. Thank you God for you eye opening experiences.

Alyssa was mad that she wasn't going to school. Jacob didn't seem fazed. We had to submit paperwork for Jacob to be approved for PRE-K. We hope that he will be able to go in the next couple of weeks. Here are a few pictures from this morning. Alyssa wouldn't let me take her picture. Enjoy.

School is from 7:30 to 2:25. That is a long day. Jaryd is not used to going quite that early. But, he will adjust.

There are also two pictures of Jacob getting his first haircut.

Love to all

Kevin, Tammy, Breanne, Shohn, Randi, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

All is Well

We will be doing our post placement Home Study next Saturday the 25th. Just one more step to completing all the paperwork since we are home. Jaryd will finally start to school on Monday. We did some school work at home this week and he seems more eager to learn than he was in Ukraine. Jacob worked with me on one of Alyssa's computers last night and he is going to pick it up quickly also. Our biggest problem with Kailyn is potty training. We are going to just wait a little while and she if she comes around. We don't seem to be making a lot of progress. We will give her a little time.

Shohn and Randi came home from their honeymoon last night. We haven't visited much, but I was sure glad to see them home. Breanne is busy working and we don't see much of her these days.

This was our first week of just us at the house. It was a good week and everyone seemed to settle in to a routine. We just keep praying for patience. I know that once the language barrier is eased it will make our life completely routine. Nana took all four kids by herself to McDonald's yesterday. She let me go and get my nails done in peace. That was wonderful. I treasured those couple of hours. She had a great trip with the four of them. Of course, there were a few issues but nothing out of the normal for kids. Thanks Nana.

Love to all. And, Thanks again for the hundreth time for all of your bloggers who have followed our journey. Just keep us in your prayers.

Kevin, Tammy, Breanne, Shohn, Randi, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

PS Here are a few pictures from Kailyn's birthday party.

Reports

Well I know you have all been waiting to hear how the doctor's visits came out. Everything is normal. Even Kailyn. She does have her ovaries. That is not the reason she is so small. We did start all of us on the medicine to kill the parasites in our systems. Everyone is already better and we have only been on them for about four days. Hopefully this will help Kailyn to begin to gain some more weight.

We had a great weekend with everyone here for the wedding. It was beautiful and we shed a lot of tears. The kids are on their honeymoon and we are finally settling in to a routine. The boys were to start school today, but their school in on fall break. So next week for sure. That will truly be when we start getting into a routine.

All is well and we will try to post some pictures from the wedding soon. Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

Love to all
Tammy and the clan

So sorry that I haven't posted in a while. We have been busy visiting the doctors and labs. All is well so far. Kailyn seems to not have any ovaries. All the other female organs and good except no ovaries. That would explain the no growth. We are waiting to hear the final news this next week from the doctor. This is very controlable and we can work with the doctors to get her back on track.
The boys are both TB positive and we are beginning treatment this week. We will be able to get them in school as soon as that is under treatment. We visited the school yesterday and they both really like it. Jacob will qualify for the Pre-k program because he is speech delayed. That is what the medical records say so that qualifies him. Not sure that he is, but that is okay too.
We are working deligently to get ready for the wedding. We are going to get flowers this morning. Kevin's mom will be here tomorrow and that will be a great help.
We learned of a picnic this afternoon for adoptive children. We are going. There are supposed to be some families who have adopted internationally. Can't wait to meet them.
Hope to post again soon.

Love to all
Tammy and the clan