Family History in a Nut Shell

Ron and I met in Chapel on the first day of college...two years later we were married....

It's a lot from there...let me try the condensed version...we had Heather (18), Eric (17), and Jenna (15) while living in OH. In 1994 we moved to LA and hosted Geniya (19...she was 7 at the time), a little girl with a cleft palate from the country Ukraine from 1996-1999 and 2/2007-present.

During that time we started the adoption process for a little girl, Gracie, in a village orphanage near Geniya' s family. Gracie passed away during the process, but God used it and we know we'll be with her in heaven! Our adoption paperwork was complete, but Gracie was gone.

We were taking Geniya home to her family after having her from the age of 7-10. It's an awesome testimony, but a very long story...we had no intentions of adopting anyone but Gracie, God brought a little gypsy baby struggling to survive, literally, to our attention...The doctor told me in Russian, "She's a gypsy. We're letting her go." That little one is now our 9 year old, Sophia.

We also went looking for a young lady, Tatiana (23 now), we had seen in pictures. It's a horrible story...through domestic violence she had lost her nose. We had seen what the dr.s here in the US could do, so we found her and brought her here for surgeries. Once she got here, it was so obvious she was a Hayes. We adopted her in 2000 at the age of 15. Her older sister, Oksana (26 now), was just past the age that we could legally adopt her, but who needs papers when it's meant to be. We are the only mom and dad she has. She is married to Andre.

We moved toTexas in 2000. Tatiana recieved medical treament here at the Medical Center through the FACE TO FACE program. Oksana and Andre are living in Spain. Tatiana has a little apartment just down the road. She's a senior in college and a assistant manager at a local bank. Heather is a senior and into track and music, Eric is a junior and plays football, Jenna is a freshman is a level 10 gymnast, and Sophia loves animals and entertaining anyone that will give her their attention.

Geniya came back to the US 02/07 and will be going home for good 12/17/08. Her last surgery completely changed her looks. It's the nose and lip she's dreamed of!!!. She'll be going back to her wonderful family and hopefully become an English interpreter....We are Mom and Dad and Victor and Nadia are Mama and Papa. They are dear friends and we 'share' Geniya(c;...Translated: we love her like our own daughter...

I've worked in international adoption for about 6 years and I'm now back in school to get my special ed teaching certification…another long story. I will be using this to work with older adopted orphans make the transition to life in the US. Ron started working with his company right out of college and is still with them!…And this really is the condensed version!!! Around here, most days are like a chapter in a novel....

Blessings,Cher Hayes