SHAYLA

Shayla arrived at her new home in America on March 21, 1998. At the airport she was very shy, and hid behind me while biological boys tried to check her out.

Within a few minutes, she started to bond with my older son Matthew. All the way home from the airport she sat on his lap.

When we got to our house, Shayla & Sasha jumped out of the car and started playing with the dogs. There was always dogs around the orphanage, but they were not allowed to play with them. So now, they could not get enough dog petting in. Since it was 1:30am, I convinced them that they could play with the (Saboka's) tomorrow.

We came in the house and Matthew immediately wanted to show Shayla her room. We had worked on that room since October 1997 and Matthew just could not wait any longer. They ran into the room and started playing with the toys, dolls, teddy bears, etc. and would not stop. It was like they had a burst of energy, even after that long plane ride home.

Even I could not sleep, so I sat up with my parents and we talked about our horrible adventure through Ukraine with the Florida attorney. As we were talking my father handed me a envelope from her. When I opened it, I was surprised to see that she was "demanding" $4400 by the following Monday (This was "early" Sunday morning). I just laughed and threw it to the side. I was too tired to think about it.

Within one month, that bill for $4400 turned into $8800. Which we finally settled out of court on December 15, 1998.

Shayla has adjusted well with her siblings, and myself. We have never had any language barrier problems, nor any problems really what so ever. She has been speaking 100% English for a while now, and is doing very well in Pre-K. All her teachers say that she is ready for regular kindergarten.

Her hobbies are: Swimming, Going to the park, Riding the Jetski, And many other things. She loves to play with all the kids, but she seems to like being with Matthew the most.

We go to Busch Gardens, Universal Studios , and Sea World just about every weekend. They really like the animals, rides, and all the shows.

Shayla is my Ukrainian Princess. She is everything that I could have ever wanted in a daughter and more. I love her with all my heart. (I love all my children very much).

Shayla cut off all her hair on February 12, 1999. She got a hold of some scissors and CHOP! She loves to comb hair, cut hair, dress up and play momma to all the other children.

All my children are very close. They have a really good relationship. But it's nice seeing three orphans from the same orphanage, meeting again in America with their new forever family.

I wish everyone could see the love that these children have for each other. Because if you spent one day with all three of my adopted babies, you would want to adopt at least three. What was a friendship in a place were they had few toys, no family, and hardly enough food, turned into a life were they are siblings, with plenty of toys, an unlimited supply of food, and a wonderful future.

I learned a lot from my adoptions, and from my children in the past year. I now help families that are interested in adopting from Ukraine, complete adoptions independently for right at $10,000 Total. It's a hard job, and I make no money off of it. But I do get personal satisfaction in seeing more Ukrainian orphans find happy, loving homes.