GREAT COMPANY

We visited Jacob yesterday morning and it went fine. I wasn’t feeling to well and he did great to sit in the swing for about 20 minutes and let me push him. Then he sat on the bench with us and ate Pringles and a wafer cookie. A little girl from another group came over and wanted a Pringle and the caregiver said it was fine. I thought Jacob might get upset but he didn’t. Progress. She even sat on the bench beside me and he was fine with it. We didn’t go for the afternoon visit. I still wasn’t feeling great and we really wanted to be able to go eat with our new friends.

We met Shelby’s husband, Matt. He is very nice too. We went to a very nice restaurant. James and I both had a chicken and pasta dish. He actually liked it better than I did. Shocker. And believe or not, he tried Green Tea with Fruit flavors. He didn’t like it. It was OK to me. The company and conversation was great. Afterward, we walked around town. It was nice. I actually got to feeling worse. We were close enough to the apartment that I walked back to lie down and talked James into going to have coffee with them. It was still daylight, as it doesn’t get dark until after 9:00, so I was fine to walk home alone and James would have been bored with me.

We found out about some other restaurants with English menus. We may try out a couple today. We also found out where the good shopping outside market is. We are headed there shortly. James was really tired this morning so he slept in. We are going for only the afternoon visit today.

The afternoon visit went great. He was in a good mood and he played on the swing for a while. He even let another child swing with him, after some coaxing. When we took him back to his group he didn’t want to stay. He wanted to go with us. It is so great he is bonding more and more with us.

We can’t wait to get home. We miss you all.

Love,

JTJ

NEW AMERICAN FRIENDS

I talked with Sasha on Wednesday and he mentioned there was an American couple living here in Simferopol and that they would be contacting us. Their names are Matt & Shelby Honig from Michigan. Shelby called us yesterday morning as we were leaving the orphanage. She is here on a Baptist Ministry. She asked to go to the orphanage with us for our afternoon visit. She had several bags of clothes to donate. It was great. They were very greatly for the donation and she helped us to understand Jacob and the caregivers better. With Jacob it wasn’t with just what he was saying but also his actions. It gave us better understanding of his little fits. It’s not just the terrible two’s. These children, all the way to age 10-11, aren’t given any chose with anything that happens in their lives. They all eat, sleep, and potty at the same time. They take it to an extreme in some cases. Two examples: With the 1st and 2nd grade children they were given a piece of blank paper and could write or draw anything they wanted to. The ministries were told the children couldn’t do it because they had never done anything on their own. The kids just looked at the blank paper until they were instructed what to draw. After a year and a half and these ministries going back week after week these kids can now draw something they want to not just what is instructed. Also these ministries took baked cookies to an older group of kids at Christmas time. They baked 4 different kinds and told the caregivers the kids could pick out what they wanted. They were to get 2 cookies each. The caregivers said they couldn’t it was too much for them to able to choose. These kids were 10 and 11 years old. It is so sad that at that age they haven’t been allowed to make even the simplest chose for themselves. Shelby mentioned that is Jacob is now being able to do with us, make a chose. If I offer him something or he doesn’t want or if he can’t find what he is looking for he will whine and most of the time throw a fit. It has to be his chose or else. We are slowly working on his patience, trying to get him to understand everything doesn’t come in a matter of a second or two. Things will get better once we are home and he starts to learn more English. Oh, Shelby drove us to the orphanage so we took the opportunity to put Jacob in a car. He did great. He only whined one time for just a second. Maybe the car ride want be to bad. Just prayer the plane rides won’t either.

We found out that one of the caregiver’s, Tanya, has been with Jacob since he was a baby. She is one of the nice one’s. I told Shelby I was sure she would miss Jacob and Shelby mentioned it to Tanya. She said she would but she is happy that he will have a family now. She also told us that Jacob looks for us to come in the mornings. He had his first act of jealousy yesterday afternoon. I was squatting down and one of the kid’s came over and sat down on my knee. When Jacob noticed he whined and started pushing him away.

We asked if we could have a party with all the kid’s in his group before we leave and Tanya said that would be fine. I hope to get some great pictures.

We also met Shelby’s American friends that are also here working with a ministry. Their names are Matt & Tammy Grinn. She is from Oklahoma and he is from Florida. We had supper at their home last night. When Tammy found out we were from Alabama she told Matt she had to fix Fried Chicken. It was wonderful. She also fixed mashed potatoes, cucumbers, eggplant relish, rolls, and some strawberry juice. We brought cake and ice cream. The ice cream was in a package that looked like a big roll of salami. We haven’t met Matt, Shelby’s husband, yet or their 3 children. We are going out to eat with them tonight along with Tammy and Matt and maybe another friend named Shannon. Then Sunday we are going to church with them. I think we will meet the kids, two boys and one girl, then. Shelby and Matt are in the process of adopting two boys they met during their visits to the orphanages. Tammy and Matt have been trying for 7 years to have a child. They are starting to consider adopting. They are planning to be here for 10-15 years and they just started building a house. Shelby and Matt are moving to Russia in a month. They will stay about a year or until the adoption is complete then they are moving to Siberia.

They have been so kind and have offered to help us in any way they can. It was wonderful just sitting around talking to someone who speaks English and it not be broken English. It is hard to understand Andrew at times. We didn’t have this problem last night. We talked and laughed and had such a great time with them. We got to something pretty right here in Simferopol. We went to a Rose Garden last night that was in walking distance from Tammy and Matt’s. We had a nice long walk. It was great.

We may be able to do some more sightseeing and a little souvenir shopping. Tammy was asking what we had seen so far.

As bad as we hate we have to stay here in Simferopol two more weeks I think we are going to enjoy every minute of it. God is working here. I feel such a weight has been lifted. I just have to have more faith there everything works out as it should in just the right time.

Melissa – Tell Scott Tammy gave me some Ukrainian news magazines last night that are in English that I will bring to him.

Well I know this is longer than usual so we’ll go for now. We love and miss you all and forward to coming home with our son.

Love,
JTJ

JACOB KNOWS HIS NAME

We had a great visit this afternoon. We couldn’t go this morning. We needed to book a new flight date and get Jacob a ticket. As of now we are coming home on Tuesday, July 17th same time as before (around 8:30 PM). Also still into Huntsville. I have just learned from Mama that happens to be the week of Revival. I hate that I am going to miss even part of it. I have been looking forward to hearing Larry Camp preach.

Jacob and I were walking around and James called out his name and he turned around and looked (several times). This is the first time he has responded to his name. He was all about hugs and kisses today. Mama got a bunch of them. Daddy was on camera duty, per requested by Melissa. He fell today bumped his head. After James picked him up and he stopped crying he said, “Rub it”. He is fine. He didn’t cry but a minute. Here are the words he can say but most are still hard to understand. Mama, Daddy, Nana (we are still working on Papaw and several other names), Open, Step, Rub it, Baby, something that sounds like Puppy when he is around the big dog, and we think he said Jacob today (but not real sure). There may be more we just can’t seem to remember any.

Please continue to remember us in your prayers and that court goes good Monday. Also please remember all the little children in these orphanages. Pray they will be placed in a loving home soon. Two children from Jacob’s group are sick right now. Please remember them in your prayers also.

As always, we love and miss you all. I know we say that every time but you can’t imagine how much you all mean to us.

Love,

James, Teresa, & Jacob

TWO MORE GOOD VISITS

We had two more good visits today. There was a different caregiver there this morning and she didn’t want us to leave a very confined area and Jacob was not happy about it. He wanted to go to the slide area. She mentioned something about the doctor so when the visit was over I called Andrew and asked him to speak with the doctor to see what the problem was. She explained the caregiver had been on “holiday” and didn’t know us. We got it all worked out for the afternoon so we were able to play on the slides.

There aren’t words to express the love and appreciation we feel for the wonderful thoughts, prayers, and love offering you all have given to us. It is so much more than we ever expected. We feel very fortunate to have such caring and generous “family” in our lives. Thank you just doesn’t seem like near enough. We love and miss each and every one of you and can’t wait for you to meet Jacob.

Christa – It seems Jacob does like music. The orphanage was playing some music very loud today so we could hear it in the playground area. He noticed it and was kind of singing with it. When it when off he pointed and grunted wanting more. I look forward to seeing him on stage with all the other kids singing his heart out.

We just read the blog for the Reynolds’ and know somewhat what they are going thru. We ask that you keep them in your prayers also.

Love,

James, Teresa, & Jacob

P.S. - I'm having problems posting pictures today. Hopefully, we can with next update.

TRIP TO BIRTH CITY

Yesterday we were able to visit Jacob and it was a good visit. James got his first hug. We played until James and I both were worn out. Jacob is still loving the slide. He and I sled down the big slide together twice. Sorry we didn’t get any pictures. Maybe next time. He is anxious to go with us now when we get there partly because he knows we are going outside. He is getting more loving with each visit. He is also bad about pinching us, the cats, and the dog. Of course, he still doesn’t like the word no.

We went to Jacob’s birth city, Armiansk today to get some more paperwork. It took longer than hoped, which is par for the course. You would think we would be used to it by now. Because of this we didn’t get to visit Jacob today.

We were hoping and praying for some good news today and it didn’t happen. I know it is all in God’s plan. As it stands we should be home on or around July 17th. We will go to court on the 2nd, then wait 10 days for the mandatory 10 day period and on the 11th day, which will be Friday the 13th we will get our court decree and go to the birth city again to get the new birth certificate with our names as the parents. Then we will come back to Simferopol and get a passport for Jacob then travel back to Kiev to get the medical exam and Visa on Monday the 16th. Then we are homeward bound on the 17th.

Please keep praying.

All of Our Love,

James, Teresa, & Jacob

BOREDOM

We are limited in what we can do and where we can go that we are starting to become very bored. I think Jacob may be a little bored himself. He was in a bit of a fussy mood today. We did get a few good pictures. Also, I decided to add a couple of pictures of the orphanage. One of the outside and one of their sleep room. I have more to show when we get home. There it is again “HOME”. Can’t wait.

We had a long busy day yesterday and got in the bed very late, so I’m cutting this short today so we may get thru earlier tonight and get some much needed rest. The heat will drain you in a matter of day or two.

I can’t remember who it was that told us about the Steak House Bravo, but THANK YOU very much. We went there last night and it was wonderful. James even liked it and he hasn’t liked much of anything we’ve eaten here, except McDonald’s and TGIFriday’s. We plan to go back soon. It is very close to our apartment. About a 5 minute or less taxi ride. I finally got to try the National Ukrainian Soup called Borche (spelling??). It was OK. I could eat it but I don’t plan to order it again. James wouldn’t even try it. It’s my understanding that every cook’s borche tastes different. I would imagine sort of like our vegetable soup tastes different from cook to cook. Anyway, I think we will survive. I am looking forward to Mama’s bucket steak, biscuits, and gravy. Then after that I want Mexican (real Mexican). We tried so called Mexican.

We love and miss you all.

Love,

JTJ

TWO GOOD VISITS AND COURT DATE

We had our best visit yet yesterday afternoon. He played really well and he ate a whole short can of Pringles. I hope that isn’t too much sodium for his little system. I’m a little concerned he doesn’t like to drink much. We have seen him drink something twice. Most of the time he is pushing it away no matter who is trying to give it to him. I looked at the “juice” one time and I would have pushed it away too.

We had some paperwork to do this morning so we only went to see Jacob this afternoon. It was good. He is loving the slide now. Mama – On second thought, we may be getting that swing set when we get home instead of in March (for his birthday).

I put the wrong size he will be wearing when we get home. He is bigger than I thought. He will be in 18 mos. The shirts fit but the shorts are a little big in the waist. We’ll fatten him up in no time though.

Now for COURT DATE. It is not as we had hoped. Our date is July 2nd. Yesterday it was set for July 5th. Andrew worked his charms and got the Judge to change it. Although, we have the travel to the birth city on Monday for more paperwork. We couldn’t go today. The office is closed on Friday’s. We are waiting on more news about Court. Please pray and ask everyone you know to pray for good news on Monday. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE THRU GOD. Penny – Thank you for the email you sent to us. It came at just the perfect time. Just when I needed it most. You will never know what it meant to me. We love and appreciate you very much.

Christa – Thank you the VBS updates and for the all pictures you are taking. Can’t wait to see them. We miss you all very much.

Brother Greg – If you don’t mind could you please have alter prayer for us and our child on Sunday. God knows the need.

Even in the midst of all the disappointments I am starting to feel calmer, more settled. God really does answer prayers.

No new pictures today. Maybe tomorrow.

God Bless You!!

Love,

JTJ

GOOD MORNING VISIT

We have had one visit yesterday and one today. It has been raining here so it is messy outside and the caregivers are starting to use the playroom too so we don’t have anywhere to play with him. The caregivers have a really hard controlling the other kids when we are around because most of them want to play with us and I don’t think they like it too much. This has also allowed us to somewhat catch up on our rest.

I think it was Mama I told that Jacob doesn’t like to slide. Well I think he is warming up to it, as you can see in the pictures. I think he is warming up to us also. There were no tears or whining today when he had to leave the group to go with us. It warmed our hearts.

Andrew got here yesterday afternoon and had to wait an hour for a taxi. Apparently it rained so much at the train station that the streets were flooded. He did get to make it to the courthouse with our paperwork. The judge told him to come back today at 10:00 AM. Then today the judge changed it to 10:30 and he still had to wait 40 minutes. Sounds familiar. When he finally got to see the judge he wanted 4 complete copies of our paperwork, which is about 400 sheets of paper. When Andrew got back he wanted a fee, which meant Andrew had to leave again and go right back to where he had just come from. Very organized around here. LOL As I am typing this it is 3:40 PM and Andrew is suppose to go back to the Chief Of Judges and find out who is going to be our judge and when our court date is. Stay tuned. As usual, things aren’t going as planned. We now have to go see the Prosecutor tomorrow. I’m not sure exactly why, but hopefully at that point we will have Court Date set. Please ask the church to pray for that things will go as planned tomorrow. Each day without a court date puts us coming home later and later. I know God can handle anything. We love and miss you all and are ready to come home with our little boy.

Love,
JTJ

LITTLE SQUIRRELING AROUND

No news on court date yet. Hopefully we will know something later this afternoon and post it tomorrow. We thought we would give you a few more pictures. We found that Jacob likes Pringles very much. One picture it looks like he is doing pushups under the swing but he fell out of the swing head first. It didn't hurt him though. He just laughed and did it again. We call him "monkey" sometimes because he is climbing on everything. Stay tuned for court date news. Keep praying.

Another picture of James' squirrel. We watched it drink water and eat nuts today.

How was Matthew's first VBS?

Love,

JTJ

BETTER DAY

We had a really good visit this morning with Jacob. We were 30 minutes late to due some problems starting with a new taxi but it all worked out fine. Jacob had fun being pushed on the tricycle to the point of wearing out his Dad and myself. He only had one major meltdown due to me not giving him Cheerios fast enough. He was so mad he laid down on the ground in the wet dirt to prove his point.

We now have a taxi company not just one driver. One first spoken very little English and the second one none, but we just hand them a note with the address we are going to and they just nod. The great thing is they are less than half the price we were paying. We got our own taxi to and from McDonalds today. Let me just tell you about the taxi home. It was an old German or Russian car probably from the 60’s. The old man driving kept turning off the engine and coasting as far as he could then he would turn it back on. James and I both were a little tired and ill before the taxi ride but afterward we were laughing. I guess you just had to be there. Needless to say our day and mood are better today. Prayer works.

Please keep praying that our court date will be Wednesday. We should know a date tomorrow if everything goes according to schedule. Even if it is Wednesday or Thursday it looks like the soonest we will be home is the 4th or 5th.

I said I would post Jacob’s size of clothes and I kept forgetting to. It looks like he will be wearing a 12 mos. probably thru the whole summer. If you need our address you can email me at simsfamily3@gmail.com.

Mama – I know you have Matthew now. Give him a HUGE hug for me. Give Daddy one too. Daddy – Give Mama one for me. We love, appreciate, and miss you all BUNCHES.

OK, now we are back from the afternoon visit and it went well, except for a couple of meltdowns. It seems Jacob likes to eat rocks, sticks, dirt, and crayons. When I wouldn’t let him eat a crayon today he pitched one more fit. Sometimes they are so bad I think he will pass out before he breathes again.

Also, I think it was yesterday that I mentioned I would respond to some comments. Our days are really running together.

Carl & Sharon – No English menus. They speak a little English at the pizza place. We call Andrew to help us order at other places (when needed). We still don’t like Ukrainian food. You are right – there are very few overweight people – could it be they don’t like “their” food either. ??

Michele – It’s great to hear that you & Johnny have a competition going as to whom gets the new info first.

Paula – It was good hearing from you. I bet you can’t wait for Roby & Sandra to come visit you.

Julie – Congratulations on your little GIRL that is on the way.

Vallie – You can’t imagine how great HOME does sound.

Love,
JTJ

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Well we visited Jacob’s once yesterday and once today. Today was a better day with him. Not a lot to post so this will be very short.

We are without a taxi driver and Andrew won’t be here until Tuesday. Therefore, we will not know anything about our court date until Tuesday. We are supposed to have a new driver tomorrow. Please pray him speaks some English. Also, pray that our court date will be Wednesday. It is actually possible. If it is Wednesday we could be headed home in 2 ½ weeks. If not right now we are still hoping 3 weeks. The lawyer at the orphanage is supposed to get getting some paperwork to the court tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a Happy Father’s Day! We will be praying for Bible School. Enjoy!!!! We love you all. We are going to read back thru all the comments and respond soon. Hopefully tomorrow.

James took a picture of a red squirrel that was at the playground.

God Bless You All!!

Love,

James, Teresa, & Jacob

ALUPKA PALACE

Today we visited the Alupka Palace, which is in Alupka near the Black Sea. We thought we were going to see two palaces but as always things aren’t what they seem. They were 4 km apart but we would have had to pay extra and the first one didn’t impress us enough (not after seeing the Biltmore Estates). It took us about 15 minutes to go thru it. Good thing the tickets were only $4 each. It was still a somewhat relaxing day even with all the walking. I did get to do a little more shopping. Oh, by the way the waterfall wasn’t much more than a trickle. We did get to see two swans, three peacocks, and a hawk. I got some really good pictures. The only picture I didn’t get was one of whole front of the palace.

Daddy - Happy Father's Day!! I hate that I'm missing Father's Day with you.

We have been thinking about VBS. We sure do wish we were going to be there with all of you. I'm going to miss being with the kids. I hate that I'm missing Matthew's first VBS and wish that it would have been Jacob's first too. You all are in our thoughts and prayers.

Love,

James, Teresa, & Jacob

DAY 5 OF VISITS

We had a pretty rough day yesterday and this morning. This afternoon went much better. He usually wants to do everything himself, but he let both James and I push him on the little tricycle. He played and laughed with us today. This morning we were feeling like we had regressed but this afternoon we definitely felt like we actually progressed. God was looking after all of us. It did our heart’s good.

As for the pictures there is one of James and I with Young Life t-shirts on (this is for you Lauri) and we are in front of the orphanage (this is for you Melissa) and our taxi is (the white car) in the background. The other picture I wanted to send is of two other kids in Jacob’s group. The little girl is Vicka and the little boy is Salvic. All the kids are so friendly and want to be picked up. It is so hard trying not to play with each and everyone. Of course we need the time to bond with Jacob and he doesn’t have anything to do with us when he is with his group so we don’t spend much time with them.

Melissa asked for pictures of the apartment. The pictures are of the one we are currently staying in so they will probably look a little lived in.

We are going to see a waterfall and two castles tomorrow about 100 km away. We may only see the inside of one of them. It depends on the time. It is so depressing here. The buildings are so rundown looking so we wanted to see some beautiful sites. We also wanted to have pictures for Jacob later of something beautiful from his birth country. I haven’t gotten many pictures of the buildings around here. We are usually in the car and going to fast to get good pictures. We will post pictures of the castles tomorrow.

We love you guys!

Love,

James, Teresa, & Jacob

P.S. - Still having problems with picture placement. Lauri I will probably be giving you a call for help.