Note from the website guy:

Nancy sent over some photos of Natasha early this morning. I wanted to get them up quickly. I will format them more correctly and get them looking better later today, but a lot of people who have visited the site wanted to see some pictures in addition to the video, so here goes!

Christmas in America

On the computer

More technology!

Man’s (errr…a girl’s) best friend

We picked Natasha up at the airport along with her friend Valya who will be staying with another family in town. As I saw this little girl get off the airplane I could see in her demeanor that she was ready for a fight. She walked in with her head down, holding onto a teddy bear wrapped in a purple scarf. She was having no part of this plan and when she did look at you it was with a Russian glare that said “Back off. “ We talked to the guardian who accompanied them on the flight and she said Natasha was very angry that she had to come to Kentucky. She wanted to stay in Virginia with Maggie who she met at the orphanage and was not happy to hear she had to get back on an airplane this morning.

My friend’s family came to the airport and their daughter had recently been adopted from the Ukraine. Once she understood she had a buddy Natasha lit up the room and they laughed the entire evening while we were at Applebee’s. She immediately connected with my I Phone (thank you Harrell) and Nina showed her how to take pictures. She totally relaxed and I’m sure the Americans were taking the brunt of their jokes but it was so fun to see her happy and at ease.

Afterward, she got in my car, I buckled her up and we drove home. Along the way she was picking up a few new tricks on the I Phone (like how to call someone!) I got her inside and she met Maggie McGee (my Australian shepherd/Golden Retriever) and they immediately connected. She went into my bedroom and got the pet bed and took it to her room so that Maggie could stay the night with her.

Although Natasha had a nice meal while we were out she opened up the refrigerator and had a feast of deli ham, strawberries, juice boxes, oatmeal, sugar cookies and inventoried the rest of he pantry. She pulled out a frozen pot roast and mashed potatoes from my freezer to make sure I understood she wanted that for tomorrow.

After her meal, Natasha went into her room and started to go to work! She found a table cloth that I bought for Christmas and wanted to set the table. So we did… Then she took every article out of my closet and chest of drawers and put them in the corner. She took all of Nina’s clothes she had given her and hung them up on hangars and put all her T shirts and other clothes in the dresser drawer. I can already tell she would love the Container Store because she loves to organize things. Then she proceeds to take me to every room and had that look on her face like “what is this?” So we went through the bathroom first with towels, pedicure tools, nail polish, lip gloss, deodorant, hot rollers, shampoo, lotion, and she quickly caught on… She’s bright and interested in understanding everything…I knew the minute she picked up the I Phone without any in trepidation she was on her way..

She ended the evening with jumping on the couch with several blankets along with Maggie and me. She was as content as she could be. She also had the trusty I Phone at her side which has now become her security blanket.

Natasha would not go to bed last night (she’s confused on the change in time) so her system has to catch up. She fell asleep on the couch at 2:00 a.m. and when I woke up this morning she was in her bed playing with (you guessed it ) the I Phone…She had taken at least 150 pictures in my house and kept taking the phone to the charger to make sure it was at full capacity. I realized early this morning that she went through my address book and called some friends of mine. Judy Peacock was the lucky recipient of three phone calls at around 4:30 a.m this morning. She also was quite fond of calling Keith Nutter who happens to be the number right after Nina’s. Sorry buddy…

Natasha got up this morning and wanted to use the electric rollers. She will be a girly girl and I can’t wait to take her shopping… She loved her new hairdo with curls and she put on her orange sweat suit and is ready for the day.

She was very hungry again this morning and wanted pigs in a blanket, a juice box and more deli meat. She understands the microwave and is less tolerant of waiting for the stove to warm up… She fixed me a breakfast of thinly sliced pickles, an orange and a juice box….

So far so good… Or at least I thought… More to follow…

I was just leaving for the airport yesterday when I noticed I had a voice mail on my phone. “Nancy, it’s Maggie. The girls will not be able to come tonight. They are arriving two hours late into Washington, D.C. Don’t go to the airport. I’ll keep you posted.” I found out on the voice mail that six girls were going to miss their connecting flights to other cities so Maggie was scrambling to find accommodations for them.

Some of the children from the orphanage will be spending their time in Connecticut, North Carolina and Louisville. Maggie later emailed me with new flight information and the girls will arrive later today. They spent a nice evening in Virginia with very caring families who volunteered their homes, a hot bath, a warm bed and lots of comfort food. Welcome to America!

I want to thank Eric Blackwell and his band of brothers for getting this blog out across the nation. Your commitment to this project is amazing and I am truly grateful for your willingness to create this beautiful diary of events for Natasha.

I was speaking to my friend Judy Peacock in Texas last night. She has seen every picture of every child and heard every story along the way. She’s been great to talk to and I’m betting there will be a hosting trip in Texas next year! Both of us came to the same conclusion last night and practically said it in unison. “These girls (Natasha and Valya) are very brave.” Can you just imagine, two little girls boarding an airplane that have never flown and accompanied by someone that is not their mother or father. Their flight will be well over 20 hours and they will land in Washington D.C. From there they will switch planes and fly to Baltimore/Washington International airport where they will connect to yet another flight on Southwest to Louisville, KY. They know very little English and are coming here on faith that they will find a Mom and Dad to love them. They are filled to the brim with courage. I am in awe of them already and they haven’t even arrived…

Natasha’s pictures will be posted tomorrow but I will end with two funny stories that I am sure Trey from Texas and his wife will enjoy.… I came home at lunch yesterday and was testing out an English to Russian translation program. This was the one tool that was my own security blanket for Natasha’s first night with me. As I was typing “Are you hungry?” “Are you sleepy?” and a host of other questions my screen went dark. Sheer panic went through me as I started hitting that “enter” key like it was Morse code. I think everyone in the neighborhood heard me say in slow motion. “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo” If I could have taken my hands through the screen and pulled out the translation program I would have. I ended up spending two hours with “Roger” that evening from AT&T and he was able to get me back online. (I’ll be filling out a very nice survey on his behalf later today…)

I got up this morning very early to finish up my laundry and to take one more run around my house to ensure everything was perfect. I started my first load to hear this “BRUMP, BRRRUMP, BRUMPPP” with my washer and realized I no longer had a spin cycle. “Stanley” from the appliance center will be over later today…

I had to laugh at all that was happening to trip me up but the lesson wasn’t lost on me… There’s two little girls crossing an ocean on faith alone that everything will be ok….

While we do not have the exact schedule yet, Natasha is expected to arrive in Louisville Kentucky on December 16th! Everyone is excited to see her and I think the schedule is already full of things for her to see and do!

This video shows Natasha and two friends in the orphanage singing and having fun. She is the one on the right!

Have a safe flight and get ready for a great visit to America, Natasha. We are all looking forward to meeting you here!

This story unfolds very innocently. I was at our annual Trim the Tree party at work when I ran into Jo Miller. We sat down and caught up on her son and daughter in law’s recent adoption of a little girl from the Ukraine… It warmed my heart to know that this child was with such a warm and loving family.

I received an email from Jo the next day “Nancy, here is a way you might be able to help and would be a wonderful experience for you.” I opened up the attachment and it discussed a program where Ukrainian children are brought to the U.S. for 2 weeks each year at Christmas and in the summer with the hope that a loving family would adopt them.

I clicked on the pictures and immediately saw an 8 year old boy that looked just like one of my nephews. I stared at him for several minutes and closed up the attachment trying to tell myself all the reasons why I couldn’t do this. “ It’s Christmas time and I have my family coming, I work and would not have enough time to devote to a child, I’m single and can’t imagine how I could do all of this by myself.” The more reasons I came up with the more I kept being attracted back to the email like a bee to honey. The more I fought the decision to host a child, the more people I met who offered their help along the way…

So finally I opened the email again and sent the organization a note that I was interested. In the midst of trying to find a child to host, the little 8 year old boy was adopted and so was the little girl in pig tails that took my breath away. I emailed the facilitator at the humanitarian organization with this message “Maggie, I do not have any preference. Whoever is supposed to come will come…”

Later that week I got the video of Natasha… The rest of the story will unfold as it is supposed to be. I can only say that I felt very led to do this and at the end of her stay I will tell another powerful story of how the dots were all connected and why I believe this was destined long before I got that very first email. This is Natasha’s story and I am documenting this for her so she will know just how much she is loved…

We just received word that Natasha will officially be here on December 16th! So many people are looking forward to her arrival here in Louisville KY.

She’s going to be hosted at the home of Nancy Schafer and everyone involved, (included LOTS of friends and relatives!) are excited to spend time with her!