Feeling Much Better

Hello everyone,

Let me start out by saying a BIG thank you to everyone that prayed, commented and called. Pastor your calls always mean soooo much to us. I began feeling much better not too long after you prayed for us. My cold is better and I give God all the glory. We are also feeling much better about our court date. Sometimes life throws you some curves but God is right around the corner to straighten your path. We will go to court on Monday at 9:30am which will be 1:30am Alabama time. Natalya will come here Sunday and we will go thru some questions they may ask. Don't worry I have given James strict instructions to only answer questions and not to elaborate. (ha ha, that's a little joke for everyone that know him very well). We will start our 10 day waiting period on Tuesday. On the 11th day we can pick up the boys and then we get their passports and medical exams. This usually takes 3-4 days (as long as there are no missing signatures). We thought about getting the taxi driver's signature, the girl at the supermarket and someone from the pizza parlor to sign something. Just kidding!

We are hoping to be out of here and on our way home by October 8th and maybe sooner.
Also, a word of advise for anyone planning a trip to adopt and you are flying Northwest they have an adoption discount. We did not know this and they are saying that since we did not take advantage of this when we arranged our flight we cannot get it now. So be sure and ask about it when you plan your flight.

There are several pictures today of people we interact with on a daily basis. The lady in the white coat with me(and my red nose) is over the dinning hall. She is so sweet. She came by one day and James had not eaten his carrots and she pointed to her eyes and told him to Kushai(eat). While I was not feeling well I did not go eat and she told James (by motioning) to take me something to eat. The lady in the pink sweater is the Assistant Director at the orphanage. She is the first one we met on our first visit. She is so sweet and attempts to speak English to us. She is actually getting pretty good. The lady in the red sweater with red hair is the accountant here at the hotel. She will hunt you down when it is time to pay. She was not very friendly when we first started staying here but now that she has learned we are adopting she smiles and is very friendly. You will notice all the grivna on her desk. That is our rent money for the next week. We go in and point to a calendar how long we will stay and she writes us a receipt. Also notice the board they use for counting.

Today we went to visit the boys and it started out with Luke watching Buzby and eating peechyana (cookie). I went downstairs and got Micah as he came back from dance class. When he arrived on the scene it became very noisy and of course he starts wrestling and screaming with James. The director came in and said something to Micah. Next thing the Assistant Director came in and told the boys to come with her. She also wanted us to come with her. I said "See James you got us in trouble".
She took us to a big playroom with lots of nice toys and said "Play". The boys had a blast. This is where they hide all the good toys. They ran from toy to toy playing. Luke loved a computer that was shaped like a turtle. Micah kept playing with a metal top. They both took turns on the rocking horse. Luke got out a Dr's kit and took everything out then placed all the pieces right back where they belong. He is so smart! He also took all the magnetic numbers and letters and put them on a board. He was so proud. Meanwhile; Micah was busy taking the batteries out of a toy to see how it worked. Again, Mr Inquisitive.

Today was the 1st time the boys saw James without his goatee. They didn't even notice. Maybe because it is already starting to grow back. Yeah!

The pictures of all the woodwork are handcarved and are in the 1st room of the orphanage. They have so much detail and are beautiful.

I must tell you we have learned to have fun on our cab rides. One of our regular driver's Tola carries on a conversation and we have no idea what he is saying. We finally figured out today that he was saying he is a grandfather. One was just born yesterday. James sits up front and makes up things. This morning Tola said something and James replies yes I've shopped at Dillard's but I've never worked there. We all just laugh and have a good time and Tola laughs with us.

It is still rainy and cold but Praise God we finally have heat. I actually hang our clothes over the heaters in our room to dry. Don't worry they heat with hot water only so nothing will catch on fire.

Good news for Melissa and Rick. They will have their court date on Friday the 26th. I so glad we have had each other to lean on.

Moms- thanks for your phone calls and supporting us yesterday. You don't know how much it means to us.

Kenny- James is looking forward to a bar-b-que when we get back. Just promise us no mystery meat! They even put it in our soup today. Yuck!

Again, thanks to everyone who has commented. I wish we could email you back but we pay for the internet by the minute.

All our love,

Penny, James, Luke and Micah