| Our Journey continues ... Page 3 |
| We went back again this evening. When Dema saw us he raced toward us and almost knocked me down. We played for a couple of hours. Yulia was very protective of our things. We always kept our backpack with us, since it had all our important papers in it. She would carry it around. It was quit heavy, but she didn't mind. She became very upset when another little girl called me mama. Went back to the little cafe again, after updating the kids. I tried something different again. Fresh minced garlic cloves with cheddar cheese and a mayo dressing. Boy was that hot. Very strong. If your ever mad at your spouse, this is a good way to keep them away. Jay tried some "Dumplings" They were very much like our ravioli here. He didn't care for them. Got to bed earlier tonight. Sunday - April 15th - This Easter Sunday morning when we went back to the orphanage, we told the Director that we wished to find out if the children wanted to go home with us. She was surprised we wanted them to ask them. She said we were the only ones out of 20 families that wanted to ask the children first. WOW. They went to their groups and asked them. They right away said "YES! We want to go to America. Jamison was very excited to teach us to speak Russian. When they brought the children down to see us, Yulia came over and sat on my lap, while Dema sat on Jay's lap. They were very happy. It brought tears to our eyes again just thinking how God led us to the perfect children. We felt totally unworthy to have such healthy, perfect children. We just can't explain the emotions that we were feeling at this time. When we went back to play this evening, Dema again almost knocked me over. He was so excited to see us. Yulia wasn't out to play yet so he ran in to get her to let her know we were here. Again one of the other girls kept calling me mama. Yulia was telling her something, of course I couldn't understand, I could only tell she was quit upset. Yulia is trying to repeat a lot of phrases, but Dema still has in mind, he's going to teach us Russian. We certainly feel very Blessed. We got to take them outside the orphanage grounds for a walk. We went up to the local market and found them some shoes. They were quit excited about that. Jay put Yulia up on his shoulders. She loved that. We really enjoyed some one on one away from the rest of the kids. We will start the paperwork on Tuesday since Monday is a holiday. Then it will be run, run, run. We are still thinking about maybe trying for 3, but not likely. There are several we could bring home. Just so sad to think about their future without a family. Hopefully they to can find another home. Really starting to miss home and our other 4 children. It has been a very emotional, long day, and we are very tired. Monday - April 16th - This morning we got a wakeup call at 5:30 from home. Boy was it good to hear the kids. We miss them terribly. Hopefully they will call again this week. We are ready for home. We went back again today to play. There was a 3 year old boy there that just kept coming up to us with this big smile. He just kept trying to play with us. We really wondered if he should be the 3rd child we bring home. When we talked to our translator about it, she really didn't think the judge would allow this so we won't persue just now. We took some pictures of the kids. When we left, went back to the Internet Cafe try to scan a picture to send home. Did a lot of walking, but it felt good. We may have found an apartment finally. Will go to see it. Better get to bed, will be a big day tomorrow starting the paperwork chase. Tuesday - April 17th - Up early to start running after documents. We need to be at the Notary by 9:00. When we arrived, there was already people in line. We were there what seemed forever. It was about crazy, the so called "important rich" people kept walking in front of everyone to get done what they wanted first. No respect! The notary gave us a bit of trouble and charges us "English" a ridiculous price. I guess for fast service. Our translator told us it was way more than it should have been. Back to the Inspector, then copies, copies. We did not make it to play this morning. We knew the children would be disappointed. When we finally got there, Dema asked us where had we been? The translator explained to him that whenever we don't come, we will be busy with lots of paperwork so they can come with us. We call again on the apartment. Sounds more favorable. Our translator will go look at it this afternoon. Our translator talked again with the Inspector and sounds like our court date may be on Tuesday Eve.. We found out Yulia's birthday is in September. March and September are spelled only 1 letter different and it was mistranslated. It sounds like we will be moving tonight at 10:00 so try to get a bit of rest. What a busy day. We are exhausted once again. At 9:45 we call the taxi and go to the apartment. Our translator kept trying to tell us that the bathroom is not very good. We wondered how bad could that be. Surely not a squat pot or could it be. Hope not. We get to the apartment. We actually think it is pretty nice. I think she was useing phycology. The bathroom was 2 seperate rooms. One room had a very large tub with a sink and wringer washer. The toilet was in a seperate room by itself. It has a small kitchen, a livingroom, and a room with a day bed. The bedroom had once again, 2 single beds pushed together. We were delighted. The host just keeps talking and talking. We are like "leave please". We were so tired. Finally, off to bed. Wednesday - April 18th - Not much planned today. We got to take the children to the central market to buy clothes. We also got their passport photos taken. Yulia loved the camera. Quit a little model. It was so neat to watch their expressions. "This for Me? "Wow!" They would say. It felt good to relax. We just pray court will go well on Tuesday and the 10 day waiting period will be waived. Romans 5:1-4 The water was shut off to this part of the city this morning and again this eve. for 3 hrs. Just when we thought we would get a nice hot bath and do some laundry. The director seems to really like us so hopefully this will be an advantage at court. Our translator and Inspector don't seemed too concerned about not getting the 10 days waived, but may have more problems with the passport agency. The agencey says it's against the law to process passports the same day and need at least 10 days to prepare the documents. We will stay prayerful. We just keep pondering Romans 5: 1-4. Patients. Thursday - April 19th - Another relaxing day. Still waiting to hear from the Inspector to see if she was able to get a hold of the judge to see if we could get a sooner court date. We are trying to see how soon we could set our court date to become the legal parents of Dema and Yulia. Went to play 2X's again today. It's really hard not to want to play only with Dema and Yulia to get to know them better. The other children are just craving for attention as well. We do enjoy playing with them all, even though we are ready to have Dema and Yulia to ourselves. We went to the market again today to buy some food. I don't think the USDA would approve. Friday - April 20th - Today when we went to the Orphanage, we asked the Director if we could take the children down to the Black Sea for an outing. We were certainly ready for a day out of the city. She granted us the previledge and had us sign a paper stating our intent and making us in charge of them while we were away. Our translator sent our paperwork to Kiev by train to have something done so we could get it back by train on Sunday, ready for our court on Tuesday. When we went back to play this evening, the caretakers left Dema and Yulia out a bit longer to play with us after the rest of the kids went inside. This was really nice. Tomorrow will be nice to spend all day with them Continued on Page 4.... |