Anastasia Michelle Raabe!!

Wow, where to start today.

We have been waiting for this day for such a long time now that I don't know where to begin. I feel that I have been so blessed by God that words can't describe the emotion of the day. With each birth of my children, a tear of pure joy came to my eyes. Only the joy that God can provide to his children. I remember the day Kyle was born, I just stood there in awe of the magnificent gift that God gave to Michelle and I (in fact I almost passed out). The same with Mary Beth when she came so fast I thought she was going to fly across the room. And then the big red face of Keegan screaming at me, knowing that he was the smallest out of them all. Then finally thinking that I was actually going to have to deliver Kelton and seeing his little nose and quivering lips. I thought this was all behind me, until today. When Ana walked (skipped) down those gray steps of the Orphanage today all full of smiles and cheer, I knew that I had saw God one last time! My heart skipped a beat and a tear came to my eye again, and I knew that all of the hard work up until this time was all worth it. It was meant to be, and it was truly another gift from God. As she took the roses that I had stopped for earlier in the day, I think her face was going to have a smile permanently etched in. It was amazing!!

The day started out by waking up at 6am so I could get the apartment cleaned up and ready for the landlord to show it to another renter. I have gone 4 weeks of not feeling sick in Ukraine until this morning. I felt terrible. So, I took some tylenol, drank some water, and started my day. I called Kostya and told him that he was going to have to call me a taxi because I just didn't feel good enough to walk, and I was off to Court. When I got there Kostya came out of the doors and told me he already had the court order. It was time to go get the Birth Certificate. So we walked to the next office down the street. Only to be told that the court order was not an official one. Back to the Court Office. Got an original court order then back to the Birth Certificate office. Meanwhile I was not feeling very well. We left that office and had to head to the Social Workers Office (had to stop by McDonalds because Kostya is always hungry) then we walked to the SW Office. On the way, I grabbed some roses for Ana. Thank goodness Kostya was with me because I almost bought a half dozen - big mistake. In Ukraine it is tradition that you only buy an even number of flowers for funerals - boy that would have been hard to explain - lol... After the SW Office, we decided to walk to the Orphanage to pick up Ana. Wrong again, this Orphanage Director has just about tried all of my patience by now. So she made us sit down in her office while she lectured me on how to raise Ana. I understand being concerned for the children, but, this lady went over the top. She basically told me that if I did not raise Ana her way she was going to be lazy, a couch potato, and a miserable child. I sat there and smiled. After that, she told me that I did not have all of the paperwork she needed, that Ana's account only had 600 uah ($80) in it, and that she wanted me to donate it to the orphanage. If it wasn't donated it may take a couple of days to get it. Not only did she make me pay 200 uah yesterday to take Ana to lunch for an hour, she was now telling me that I needed more paperwork and she wanted Ana's account. So, back to the Birth Certificate Office, then back to the Social Workers Office, a talk with Kostya, then back to the Orphanage. I really wanted to take Ana's account just for sheer spite, but I conceded and donated it. After Ana and I went to the bank to sign the account over to the orphanage, the lady that was with us wanted me to hand the cash over to the Director. I just handed it to the lady and started waiting for our taxi. So at that point in time, the Director comes out to meet us in the parking lot, said something to Ana and I, then Ana proceeded to hand the roses that I bought for her to the Director. Wow, talk about a mix of emotions, again thanks to God for giving me patience, I just smiled. I think over the years, God has really been helping me with this one!! After all, this was the outcome!!!!!





Next Fun and Exciting Part of the Day!

As soon as we got back to the apartment, which Ana really liked, we called home. It was 6am and Michelle wasn't even out of bed. But, I had to call, I was so excited. You should have seen Ana's face when she saw Michelle on skype. Again, a smile that I don't think can get any bigger... After we talked to Michelle, we called Karina before she went to school again all smiles. Not sure what they talked about but, I think Evon(Vanya) to them, was mentioned a few times. Then she called some of her friends from the Orphanage on their cell phones, until being the mean Dad that I am had to stop her so she didn't use all of my minutes. We vegged out for about a half an hour and then went for a walk. Well, I thought this girl was lost until she asked me where the Automobile garage was that Michelle had taken a picture of when she was here. I took her to the garage and her eyes lit up. She made me hand her the iphone and the first thing she did was tell me she wanted to get ice cream if that was ok. OF COURSE IT WAS OK!!! So we had some ice cream, a soda, and I bought her a pack of gum!!! WooHoo for Dad being the guy... After we came out of the store, Ana wanted to take a walk.


Now comes to the tough part of the day!!

If you were not teary before, this part is where you will be. At least I was and it was really hard to hold them back and to keep a smile (because I knew I had to). We started walking down the street not but 3 blocks from where Michelle and I had been staying and Ana pointed to a building and said this is my school. I replied, you go to school here now? She said no, my old school and then asked for my phone again. She called Kostya, muttered some words and then handed me the phone. Kostya proceeded to tell me that this was the school that she went to as a little girl when she lived with her Mom and then asked if I was ok with walking around her old neighborhood while she reminisced. I said of course as long as she wanted to. I also told Kostya to let her know, if she wanted any pictures I would take them for her. So, I took a pic of Ana at her old school and we were off again. She asked me if I wanted to see her house. I said if you want to. She proceeded to take me back into some apartments and pointed. That's my house. Ok, I'm starting to get a little teary. All I could think about was these places didn't look too bad and the people looked fairly well off. Why Ana? Why would someone let this gift from God go? I asked her which apartment she lived in and she pointed to about the 3rd floor. At this point in time I was starting to feel a little awkward. Was her Mom going to see us there, etc??? So we walked a little further and there was an old man and woman sitting on the bench. The woman said Nastya and Ana smiled. She said this is Nina. Nina talked to her a little and Ana explained that she had a new Dad and Mom and she was going to America. The lady started getting teary. Ana just smiled the whole time and then when the lady asked if she had seen her real Mom or Dad (that was about the only thing I could pick out of the conversation), Ana got a little angry. The lady started talking to someone else that was passing by so Ana decided to make a break for it. About a minute later Nina called, Nastya and came up to her and hugged her and let her know that she loved her and Ana would always be in her heart and wished Nastya a good life in America. She also told me Thank You. Just like that the conversation was over and we walked on. I asked Ana if she was ok and she looked at me with that smile and said she was good, asked me if I was good, I replied yes and we walked right on out of that apartment complex. I asked if she wanted a pic and she quickly said no! I really wondered what she was thinking. It truly broke my heart knowing that someone could give up something this good......

Now for the End of the Day!

We came back and I can't say that I cooked the best of meals tonight. We ate some meat raviolis, cheese, and bread and she is watching some Russian TV while I am typing this.

Sorry for the long post!!