I want to tell you something silly that happened.  It's not an adoption story persay, but it is one of our many adventures!  When  we were here last time I was dropped off by Sasha and planned to be home by 8pm.  I knew that I could call Denis, an English speaking taxi, to pick me up.  We had used him several times before.  By the way, he is wonderful, inexpensive, good person, and a great travel guide!  So, I walked to the photo shop to get the pictures for the blog (second trip).  As I was walking back it was pouring rain and I was wetter than a dog getting a bath!  Everyone stared at the crazy American.  When I was done with the blog, I called our taxi.... No answer....after an hour and many calls, no answer. So I called Iina.....no answer......10 min. busy.........again, again.......now it is off.  2 hours after starting to find a way home, I am scared and don't know what to do.  By now it is very dark and still pouring rain.  Our house is about 5 miles away.  We had walked as a family, during the day, but this is at night, in the rain, with only my son, and heavy gifts we bought!  I couldn't explain to anyone where I live.  I had the address that I had used many times before, but no one could understand.  I didn't have any other phone numbers for the house, our cook Lianna, our driver, Sasha, the other members of the team...no one!!  The workers at the Internet Cafe called several cabs, but no one would come because they couldn't tell them where I needed to go.  I tried to flag down a cab, but couldn't get one to stop....they always had before.  Finally there was one in the parking lot....but he didn't know either.  I tried to tell them that I know where our house is, if someone will just take me....nothing...no one understands...we are stuck and I am getting panicked....No one is coming to get me, I don't know how to get home, it's raining and pitch black!  Finally, a nice, VERY TALL young man talks to me in broken, but wonderful to the ear, English.  I explain that I know where to go, if someone could take me.  He says that he has a car and will take me.  I AM SCARED to get in the car with a stranger, but what do I do???  So Tommy and I follow him to his car and get in.  It is a very small car and he is a really tall guy.  His legs go above the stearing wheel and he can barely reach the clutch.  I find out that he learned English in school and that he is a professional basketball player in Odessa, Ukraine.  (Suprise!  He is literally over 7 feet tall!)  He said that he has been all over Europe and that he has an agent negotiating contracts in America for when his contract is over in Odessa.  I am in awe, but more, I am relieved to be going home.  He is going in the right direction, very slowly....stopping every 100 feet...popping the clutch...is it here?  NO, it is WAAAAY up there on the right....We finally get to the house and say good bye, what a nice guy! 

We go inside and everyone is frightenned and yelling at me for being gone so long....I am nearly in tears over the ordeal and tell what happened.  It turns out that Denis is sleeping, and not working that day, Sasha was scared to death and mad at me....Lianna was pacing and grabbed me, hugging me when I got home and Thom wanted to kill me.  The big question everyone asked?  Did you get the basketball players autograph?  AFter te initial shock, I can laugh about it.  At the time it was terribly scary!  Stuck, in a country where I can't communicate, and cut off from anyone who knows me!! 

Now when I come to the Internet Cafe, before they let me come in, they make sure I have prearranged for a ride home!!

Suprise!  We went to court today.  I found out only Yesterday and did not have time to post.  So our amazing Star (her real name is Iina and she has given permission to use her name,  she says she prefers Star though).  So Iina is the miracle worker.  Well actually she would agree that God is the Miracle Worker, she just does His work and asks for prayers.  I won't tell details as this is a public forum and I don't want to get anyone in trouble for the speed of our blessing.

This morning at 6 am we woke up and got ready for our trip to CeberoDonetsk ( pronounced Sevier Donetsk), where the orphage is.  We arrived to the court at 8:30 and waited for the kids.  When they got there, we changed their clothes.  Our new daughter wore a pretty green top with a jean skirt.  It matched Jessica's outfit...wich they both loved!  Our son wore a red, white and black motorcycle outfit.  He loved it.  I think they would have been happy in anything!!  So when it was 9, we went into the court room.  It was a very small room with old wood, theater style seating, that wasn't bolted to the ground.  IT WAS HOT!!! 

Before it started, Iina asked our little girl about her new American name: Chelsea MaryAnna Hobbs.  SHE LOVED IT!  She giggled and said that it is beautiful.  We explained that the Mary is after her Babuska Mary Lou.  She was happy because she had already fallen in love with her photo.  She likes having her name.  The Anna is after Thom's mom.  She liked that as well.  She repeated the name over and over, smiles and giggles...She loves it!  That is the perfect name she thinks.  Then she asked our little boy about an American name: Cody Alexander Hobbs.  He smiles wide and said he loves it.  We explain that we love the name, and it is also one of Tommy's best friends name.  He was happy.  He would be happy with anything I am certain!  So with that done, we waited for court to start.  I had heard that it would be very short as the decision is often decided before the hearing...this is a formality.  This judge takes his job very seriously, although he joked alot.  He asked very good questions of Thom first.  I was so proud of him and his answers.  When were you married, How much do you make, what is your house like, what is your car like? how much is petrol, how large is the gas tank in your car?  Yes, you make enough...as if that were the key to it all!  When asking why we adopted he said that we have always wanted to adopt a child, or children and give them a chance for a loving family.  We wanted our own as well, but we always knew we would adopt.  How about your marriage, how long was the cerimony?  WHAT???? 1, 2, 3 days?  Thom, "The first one was small and short.  We then had a very large wedding later. (Get this answer, without prodding!!!) Everyday has been a celebration since!"  They all laughed.  When the judge asked Iina, she said that it is true.  She asked how many people do you know that are married 18 years and still kiss, hug, and hold hands.....because they want to?  The judge said NONE!  Then it went on, and on, and on.  They talked to me, nothing great.  The jurors were watching every move of us and especially the children.

A GREAT part was when one juror had to ask, "Who are the adopted children and Who are the biological children?  I can't tell!" 

Then the judge called up our little Cody.  He was sooooo nervous as he is VERY shy!  He managed several DA's to questions by the judge, but would not look at him except when he let out a shy giggle and looked down quickly.  My heart was scared for him!!  Then he called Chelsea.  She went bounding up with smiles...Da, Da, DA!  More that I didn't understand.  Sistra, Dwa Brat!  DA!  She said that she loved our family the minute she saw us.  She explained that she was VERY happy about her new sister and 2 new brothers.  The judge said, but there are many brothers and sisters in the orphanage.  She gave him a look like, are you serious?  This is so different!!! But she wouldn't say anything.  When he asked Iina, she replied that it is true, you wouldn't believe it, but it was love at first sight for all of them.  Perfect from the beginning.  They replied that they could tell.  Kids don't just play like they were on command, it is real!  They took a recess and came back with the verdict, "The kids will be adopted by us...they will have their names changed, we will be named as their parents, they will keep their birthdates and places, CONGRATULATIONS!!!".....Cody came over to stand with us, followed by the other 4.  It was PRICELESS! 

We celebrated at the Cafe and a while later they went back to the camp.  It will be a LOOOONG 10 days, but they will be good days!  We are all very happy.  We gave Chelsea a special necklace for her special day.  It has a white gold heart inside a gold heart.  This is to symbolize that her life, heart, is surrounded by our love, hearts.  There are 2 diamonds inside her heart to stand for her new Mom and Dad.  There are several precious stones to symbolize how precious she is to us.  She really likes it....but not as much as we like her!  My Cody...suddenly he feels free to run and jump in my arms with his arms squeezing my neck.  He makes eye contact while I hold him, giggles his shy laugh, and looks away as he squeezes harder.  A match made in heaven all the way around!!!!

THANK YOU GOD FOR ALL OUR BLESSINGS!!!!

The ever growing Hobbs family

Hello to you all!  We got to see the children again today.  It was a wonderful event as usual.  When they came out our new daughter went running straight to Jessica, calling her name.  She gave her a big hug and nearly forgot about the rest of us!  She and Jessica are bonding VERY well.  They are like two new best friends!  They greet each other with big hugs and then hold hands, or have their arms around each other for most of the rest of the time.  They can not be seperated, what ever it is that we do!  For those of you who know us well, you know what a gift this is to us!  This was a very important conection.   And God in all His wisdom, chose exactly the perfect sister for her!  She is connecting to all of us as well.  Mikey is still shy around her, but she won't give up!  I hope this continues!  As for our little boy, he is wonderful.  He came running out of the camp giving hugs and kisses to everyone, making sure not to miss anyone!  He is a true charm!

We only had an hour with them again, but every minute is priceless and we are thankful!  We started by showing them the album of our family and friends.  They were very excited!  They had seen pictures on the camera before, but not in the album.  They giggled as they explored the album over and over.  Then we had them try on the outfits that we bought them for court.  Our daughter was giddy and giggling.  She loved it!  Especially when we told her that Jessica has the same outfit!  I don't know if it was the outfit or the thought of adoption in the court that made her so happy, but we will take her happiness any way she gives it!  It's all good.  She is a size 10/12.  As for our new son, he loved his motorcycle outfit that Mikey picked out.  It fit well, but the jeans we bought were too big.  He is a size 6/7.  He is much quieter, but you can see the joy on his face.

We played Uno, blew bubbles and watched a movie.  They weren't much into the movie (good by me).  They wanted the interraction more.  What great kids!  So we played, took pictures and bonded some more.  Our time was much too short, but when it was time to go, they obeyed the caregiver and left without problems.  Big hugs all around and a cheerful, Dasvadana until Zaftra! (Good bye until tomorrow!) 

We headed back to the little town the orphanage is in to sign some papers at the Inspector's office for court.  You know me.  I can be a little, uh, well needy, demanding maybe?!  I asked to go to the cafe.  Our wonderful Sasha just smiled, patted Thom on the back and said, "No Worry, No worry, It OK!"  (He seems to do this alot!)   They have no water with out gas/ bubbles, in the whol town!  We were very thirsty and thought that Iced tea was the answer.  Star explained to them about Iced tea.  They didn't get it, but she is a pistol and won't take no for an answer.  The waitress finally figured it out, tea, with sugar, over ice, LOTS of ice!!!  She thought we were crazy, but it was soooo good!  We had a great lunch and then met the Italian family we saw a couple days before.  We talked for a bit and exchanged some experiences.  I explained to them about my reaction when the children were taken from us and why I cried.   They said they love their son and are VERY happy with him.  We had a good laugh and I feel better about the Italian thing.  They seem to be great people.  I am sure we will see more of them.

When we went into the cafe it was sunny and cool.  When we left it was raining.  When I say raining I mean HUGE drops the size of quarters and lots of them!  Sasha drove us home 2.5 hours with great skill.  A hard task for here!  When we got here, he took us to meet his wife, what a beauty!  Then he took us home, we drank a little coffee, then he took Tommy and I too the Internet Cafe.  He is such a good sport!  I can't believe how God has blessed us with such great people!  We lovingly refer to each other as our "family".  We have Lianna (cook, and friend), Anna (college student, cook and friend), Sasha (driver and "BRAT", brother), Star (facilitator and friend) and our large family of 7! 

I am often moved to the point of tears as we go through our day, knowing how God has really blessed us and our trip.  Today, especially, I have had to wipe away the tears of happiness.  It was a HUGE leap of faith to "go blind", but I am soooooo glad that we did!  I could never have done this great of a job on my own!  Only God is this good, to fill our needs and desires so perfectly.  We have truly been blessed!  I want to thank you all for your support!  The emails and phone calls are priceless and very much appreciated!  I know things are going well, but it is due to the huge network of prayers and thoughts on our behalf from you guys!  Please, keep them coming, we are only at the half way point!  Important things are still to come.  Thank you also, to our "new" friends.  We are encourage by your words and can't wait to meet you when we get home!

The Hobbs Family

     Hello to you all!  Thanks to Laurel, I can now navigate my way through this blog and update you!  We have had the most amazing time!  God has truly blessed us!  We went to visit our kids yesterday.  They are now at a camp that is about 35 minutes farther than the orphanage.  So we had a two and a half hour drive.  It was well worh it.  The kids came out with their usual huge smiles!  We spent a glorious hour playing games.  Twister was a HUGE hit!  We had several other kids come out of the camp to see what we were doing.  Our wonderful driver, and friend, Sasha, found an enormous beetle that delighted us all.   We all held it and couldn't believe it!  Our two new children especially like the bug.  Yes, we can post pictures of the beetle.

     I am just amazed at how these children fit us.  God sure knows what He is doing and I am glad that we waited for His timing.   We are celebrating the lives He has brought to us!  These two angels are deffinately meant to be part of our family!  Jessica is bonding to both, but especially to her new sister.  Mikey is still "buggie" over his brother.  Tommy likes them both but is especially fond of his new brother and can't wait for him to play video games with him.  These two miracles are all smiles and giggles.  You should have seen them playing Twister!  I'll post the pictures after court.  They could not laugh hard enough!  We also played Uno.  It was amazing how fast they picked up the rules, we left out the +2, skip and reverse.  They are counting in English and learning their colors.  It is great!  Unfortunately, we only had an hour to bond.  It is just so great to be able to be with them, even for the one hour!

     So what now?  As our new daughter said, "How quickly can you do the documents?"  Our wonderful Star is in Kiev doing the paperwork.  She thinks she will have it Monday and then she will be back for court.  Possibly Tuesday.  Then our 10 day waiting period stops.  This is just in case we change our minds.  NOT!!!  Then we will bid fairwell to our new Ukrainian family that hosts us and return to Kiev.  It will only be a couple of days and then we will board the plane for our entry to America with our two new American Citizens!!!

     Thank you to all of you for your emails and posts!  We look forward to them every day.  If you would like short email updates, and more private detail, please email us at hobbs4@ocsnet.net.  Thank you for visiting with us!      The (getting bigger) Hobbs family

Dear loved ones,
This has been an amazing journey!!  A huge thanks to Laurel for helping me with the blog so you can
share it with us!!  Please pass it on to anyone who would like to share it with us!

We met our angels and can't believe how good God is!!  We immediately fell in love with them!  They
look like they are biologically ours.  It is uncanny!  We spent 2 hours in the van with them, it
fealt like 20 minutes!  I reached back to touch our shy little boy, not wanting to move to fast...
(you know me and my love of hugs and closeness!) and couldn't quite reach him.  He noticed my
attempt and moved over the 2 inches to receive my touch!  It was wonderful!  Our FABULOUS
facilitator, a true gift from GOD, asked if he wanted to sit on my lap.  He sad Da!  After a few
minutes Mikey had to make sure there was still enough room for him on my lap so he joined us! 
Mikey is in love with "my new brudder".  He has cried every time we left him and just wanted him
back.  He wants him to live with us forever NOW!  Our little boy has blonde hair (same as all our
kids) and blue eyes with a great big smile that errupts easily.  He is shy, like I said, but is
open to our family at the same time.  He wants the love and attention but is unsure how to ask or
assert himself.  Tommy says, "He is exactly the brother I was hoping for...and more!  He is
amazing!  I love him already!"

As for our girl, she is a very tall 11 year old with grey, blue eyes and hair the exact color as
Jessica's.  She has the same freckled face and sparkle in her eyes.  She has the same skin color
and they deffinately look like sisters! (I wish I could send pictures! I will keep trying.)  She is
very sweet!  We gave her a stuffed pegasus and she held it close and kept kissing it.

THE BEST PART:   Our facilitator, I will call her star...(the story of the starfish on the beach)
talked with our new girl alot, asking questions about what she likes and so on.  Our girl asked
about the adoption process and what was involved.  Then she said, "How quickly can you do the
documents?"  She is as anxious to be a part of our family as we are to have them.  Star told her
that Jessica has always dreamed of a big sister.  Her answer was, "How can this be true?"  She is
affectionate, pretty, happy...just wonderful!!!  When she was getting her picture taken she would
always call for Jessica and wrap her arm around her. 

We brought bubbles, balloons and cars.  They were great toys!  The kids play VERY well together! 
So does the biggest kid, Thom.  He echoed the sentiment of instantly loving these kids!

THE SCARY PART:  Most of you know our dealing with "THE ITALIANS".  It is hard to trust the
process, especially when there is an Italian who will stop at nothing to get what they want, even
if she, he is not available!  SOOO, as we were playing with the children, and our wonderful Star
was hard at work away from the orphanage, the assitant director, who told us about our kids 3 days
before, came outside.  She called our wonderful new children over to her and walked with them to
the Italian couple who were waiting with a boy and their facilitator.  They introduced our kids to
them with a happy exchange and started to walk to a taxi.  I took off after them as soon as I saw
her going to the Italians.  You know me, mother hen!  Thom started yelling...I won't quote him as
it wasn't very nice but appropriate and full of passion.  He took out the camera and started
snapping pictures of the people stealing our kids!  I was told not to follow, but didn't listen. 
They got in a cab and left, with the Italian facilitator!  The assitant director came to me smiling
and explaining that the doctor was taking the 3 children (mine and the Italian's) to the hospital
to get the medicals done quickly.  She explained to me in her sweet broken English, as I cried,
that the children are ours and there is nothing to worry about.  Star confirmed this when she
returned.  Exhausted, we left to go to a cafe.  When we returned from our errands I followed Star
into the orphanage.  As I passed the room where our kids were, our little girl ran out
calling "Mama, Mama!" and gave me a huge hug!  Our little boy was close on her heals yelling even
louder!  I was extremely relieved, to say the least!  They asked about the kids and Papa.  They ran
outside and all was good in our world again.

Needless to say, we are ALL very much in love with each other and happy with the chemistry!  Star
is working at lightning speed to get this done.  She is doing a great job!  She is an awesome
Christian lady with God as her focus!  It feels so good to have her on our side, taking care of
us!  We brought the kids to show them what life in Ukraine is like with all the struggles.  Instead
they have been treated to many of God's blessings!  We have been guests of a lovely woman who left
for Stearling Heights, Michigan (Thom's home town) the day we arrived at her house.  Coincidence?
Hmmm!  She is very gracious and WONDERFUL, a word I have used alot, I know!  We are in a 3 story
mansion with a swimming pool, cook, driver and country club priviledges.  I know, the hard life! 
Our cook as fast become a great friend!  We have been to the private park/ lake twice.  It is a
beautiful place to relax, eat and swim.  The people here have been absolutely wonderful, from our
hosts to the people on the street.  We have truly been blessed with a great experience so far.  I
am sure that your prayers and good wishes have had a lot to do with it!  PLEASE leave comments on
the blog.  As Laurel said, it is great to read them and is much easier than email, although not at
all private!  The private emails are great as well!!!  God has truly blessed us, and I pray that it
will continue!  We love you all and look forward to introducing our new kids to you SOON!!

Angela

Hello Friends and Family of the Hobbs!

I just got off the phone with Thom. They met their two kids they hope to adopt today. Thom said they are perfect! Praise God!!! He said they are adorable and they look just like their 3 bio kids! All 5 kids got along well. The entire family was able to ride with the kids from the train station in Lugansk to their orphanage in a different city. The Hobbs and their facilitator were able to get most of the adoption paperwork done today to proceed with the process! The kids were only at the orphanage a short time today before taking off for another camp! The Hobbs will go to the camp to visit the kids again on Friday. They sound VERY EXCITED and said they will e-mail photos soon. We won't be posting the photos on the blog until after the court date, but I will e-mail them to all that are on the e-mail list.

 

If you sign up for an msn account, you can leave Angela and Thom and the kids messages here under the comments section. I know from personal experience inUkraine, that it is WONDERFUL to read lots of comments and prayers of support on the blog. It's easier to read the comments here on the blog than to open idividual e-mails due to the computers being so slow in Ukraine. So, please show your support to them by leaving comments.

 

Blessings,

Laurel Boylan

God's Waiting Children, Inc.

559-316-4823

 

Hello!

I am Laurel Boylan, Director of God's Waiting Children, Inc., the agency that Angela and Thom are working with for this adoption. The Hobbs are having technical difficulties accessing their blog from Ukraine (all the directions on the screen come up in Ukrainian!!!). If they are unable to post updates, I will post them here for them as I'm in touch with the Hobbs or their faciitators almost daily. If any of you have any questions I can answer for you about their trip, please feel free to call me at 559-316-4823 or e-mail me at laurel@godswaitingchildren.com.

Laurel Boylan

 

 

We have really been blessed on this trip.  Right off God reminded us that this is all about Him and
to trust that He is in control.  We were on our way to a short important trip,  when we realized
that we forgot our very expensive camera on the plain.  Our wonderful facilitation team tried to
smile and tell us that the would find it, we knew better.  So we said a prayer for blessings for
the purpose of our "very important trip", for clarity and wisdom.  We prayed for God's guidence and
release of tension.  Then we prayed to get our camera back and not loose the hundreds of priceless
photos on our digital chips.  As soon as we said "amen" the phone rang and it was our facilitator
telling us that somehow, someone turned in the camera.  He said that it was amazing, it should have
been taken.  I said that it was God's way of telling us that He is in control of EVERYTHING!!

We have our referral and have travelled 12 hours by car to a region near Russia.  We are very
excited about the prospect of who God has chosen for us.  The girl had a huge smile in her SDA
photo, and the boy had a great smile in the orphanage photo.  The children are on vacation at the
sea for a few more days, so we will not be able to meet them until then.  We are anxious but feel
that God has provided this time as a family to have fun and relax before the craziness starts. 
(Wait, I thought we were already there??)

God has provided very well for us!!  We love the facilitation team!!  They have set us up with a
WONDERFUL "cottage".  The owner is a Ukrainian doctor who has a son in America.  She is a FANTASTIC
christian woman!  WE were sad to see her only for a few hours before she left for her, convenient,
3 week trip to, you guessed it, Sterling Heights Michigan.  Thom's home town!!!  She loves America,
God, and Americans who help the orphans!!  She is amazing.  Only the best from God.  We are in a 3
story home with a swimming pool, yes a POOL!!  We have the whole third floor.  There is a large
Beautiful garden with a Saint Bernard.  He doesn't care for us yet but you all know me and dogs!! 
We'll be friends soon.  There is a cook and house keeper to "provide everything we need", and don't
need.  Yes, this is a gift from God!!!  We don't want you to think we would be any less blessed in
a hovel, but we will take the gifts and blessings that God provides for us, with out grumbling of
coarse!

Today is Jessica's birthday.  We are going to get her a cake and fireworks, hopefully, to celebrate
with. 

God's blessings to you all!  We love you and miss you!  We will send pictures when we can...We
still need to see them to take pictures!


Angela

 

 

We will meet them (the kids) at 6am tomorrow at the train station here in Logansk.  If it goes well,

they said they will work quickly for us.  We are really excited.  Thom hasn't said alot. Today he said

 that he is nearly sick.  He said that tomorrow is a HUGE day for us.  It is like when we went to the

 hospital to have our 3 bio kids.  He said that he feels just the same.  That it really is the same concept.

I didn't think of it that way.  It makes sense though. We will see Inna again tonight.  We like it best when

she is with us.  She is fun and we like her alot.

We thought we would bring the kids so that they would have a great appreciation for what the
Ukrainians go through here.  Well, they aren't getting a true story for sure.  We have been
Marina's guests (the home owner) at the "country club" style park with cabanas and a lake with a
fine sandy beach!!!  Though life huh?  They have the most amazing pork bar b que!

Well a couple more hours!  I can hardly contain myself.

Blessings to you and your family,
Angela