A New Hairdo, Amen!

Hello everyone, we are laying here thinking about how we can't wait to get home in a couple of days. As you can see in the pics Mama and Papa got new hairdo's tonight. After the boy's had their bath and got their hair dried they decided Mama and Papa needed a new look.

Every night they say their prayers before they go to bed. They repeat after me or James. I love to hear them say "I love you Jesus". It is some of the sweetest words. They also pray before every meal.

Today we went to the big market to get enough supplies to last thru Tuesday night. Ben came and picked us up. He had 2 booster seats so we put the boys in them. They did great! We were afraid they would not like being buckled in but they actually liked it because they could see out better. We put each of them in a shopping cart when we got to the market. They were really good. Luke wanted to buy everything on the shelves. Micah would try to grab a few things but he would hand it to Mama. Ben helped us shop since we can't read the labels and some things you have no idea what it is. Tonight we were able to eat beef and mixed vegetables. We had no seasoning except salt and then James remembered we had Pepsi. The Pepsi caramelized in the pan and it tasted like Teryaki. The boys loved it. They would not eat any vegetables except the corn.

Rachel- we have a request. We plan on being at church next Sunday and the boys love "I Am A Friend of God". Will you please sing it that Sunday. The boys sing this all the time. They love all the songs from the Lakewood CD but that is their favorite.

Well, both boys have come in here and climbed in the bed with us so I guess it's back to getting them back in their bed and trying to get them to sleep. Their new game is to keep telling us they love us and giving us kisses so we want leave them. Until tomorrow.............

The Holcombe's

Another Day of Bonding

Today was another lazy day at the Holcombe flat. We got up this morning and had breakfast. The boys like scrambled eggs and cheese toast. Luke likes to pull the cheese off of his bread and eat it. They have excellent cheese here in Ukraine. They played in their fort most of the day. Mama got busy cleaning the apartment and the boys helped. They both vacuumed and I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen. They are good little helpers.

After their naps we took them to the playground and played for a while. After playing we made another trip to the market and picked up some more groceries. They love to eat. We are starting to figure out Luke's likes and dislikes. Tonight we had some frozen pizza's and thought we were getting pepperoni pizza but it was salami. It was actually pretty good but Luke would not eat the salami. We ended up giving him bologna. For desert they had ice cream. They are getting to be more and more like their Poppy when it comes to ice cream.

Bedtime seems to really be a chore. I know this is a hard time for a lot of kids but the boys just want to giggle, play w/the covers and whisper. Eventually they will go to sleep but not until we have gone in there several times to get on to them. Hopefully at home it will be better since they will have separate beds.

They are picking up more and more on English. Luke calls Micah by his name all the time now. Micah on the other hand has to be reminded. They definitely know what the word spanking means. They also know chips, juice and I love you.

Our friends Rick and Melissa made it to Kiev with their kids. Hopefully we will get together in the next couple of days.

Moms, Marion and Karen- Thank you so much. God has used you to bless us in a big way. We love you!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We are believing to get out of here by Wednesday.

Love,

The Holcombe's

Another Delay :(

Well in case you have not heard we have had another delay. The boys passports will not be ready until either Monday or Tuesday. This will put us leaving around Wednesday or Thursday. We are very disappointed but we know there is a reason. God was not surprised by this and He will continue to keep His hand on us. Please pray for our finances and that God will provide for us. We were not planning on being here this long.

Today we went with Sasha to get the boy's medicals done. They were very well behaved and did everything the Dr asked them to. Micah is 103cm and 35lbs. Luke is 104cm and 35lbs. We knew they were very close in size but did not realize it was that close. The Dr wrote down some nose drops for Micah. The tube leading from his sinuses to his ears is stopped up so we had to get drops for the plane ride. He said we could go ahead and start giving them to him so he could sleep better.

We went and had more photos of the boys for the Visa's and then Sasha dropped us off at St. Andrew's. We went inside and got some beautiful pictures and video. The view from outside was breathtaking. We were able to pick up a Ukrainian flag for the boy's to have in their room at home. We also took pictures of one of the vendor's booth. While by the SDA we ran into another family from Italy that adopted some of the kids from the same orphanage. All the kids got to say hello.

Tonight Ben came by and Micah asked him when we were going home. He told him soon. Ben also said he would help us get some more clothes for the boys since we are staying longer. It is very difficult to dry clothes with a hairdryer. We hang them on the line but it is so cold it takes days to dry.

As you can see in the pics the boys like to help Mama and they love brusing their teeth and taking baths. We are very blessed to have such perfect little angels.
We love you and continue to cherish your prayers.

Sorry NO Pics. What else-Blogger Down AGAIN!

Hello to everyone. I hope everyone is fine. We are doing good. We will be doing great when we get to fly home. We are soooo homesick. Today was a good day here. A little rainy but good. We did go to the office where you go here to apply for the boys passports. I have to tell you that the boys were soooo good. We where so proud of them. They got their pics made again and we filled out some paperwork and we were off to the small grocery store a couple of blocks from our apartment. We spent over 250........Grivnas that is. Which is about $50 dollars. There is 5.30 Grivnas to one of our dollars here. But the cost on stuff usually is the same just about. Well we bought some water and Coke (thats right good ol' Coke). They have a huge CocaCola plant over here also. Nestle is also a very big company seller here. We bought some bologna, cheese, and eggs. Penny has been cooking our meals and she has done a great job considering you can't read the labels here and sometimes you just hope you bought what you think you were buying. We had fried bologna and left over homemade mac and cheese and corn. This afternoon for lunch we finally got to eat some good ol' scrambled eggs. They were the best. We miss home and also home cooking. If anyone wants to cook us a good ol' homecooked meal when we get home, let us know. We will be there early. LOL We had some pics to show you Sister Cathy with the idea you gave us on making the boys a tent in the apartment. But of course the blogger isn't letting us download any. Penny pulled the comforter over the end of the bed in the livingroom and the boys were able to go under it and they had a fort and went crazy. They loved it. And so did mama and papa cause it gave us a little time to do stuff also. Thanks soooo much for the idea. Keep them coming cause we still have a few days left. Lea, Penny said that the finger paint with chocolate pudding was an awesome idea, but when you can't read the labels here you don't know what your getting so......no go. LOL They have been coloring some but they are all boy and they have to romp around and coloring last for about 15 minutes top. I can't wait to get home and get settled in so all the little ones the boys will be with in church can come over and play with them. We are going tomorrow to get their medical exams and if the good Lord see fit we will go to get the passports Friday and also have our meeting at the US Embassy Friday. Then we will be done and ready to fly out of here at 6:30AM Saturday Morning Ukraine time which is 10:30PM Alabama time on Friday night. Weird huh. Please be in prayer for us that we get to make that flight on Saturday. I am soooo ready to get back home and back to work (I never thought I would say that) and back to FWC and Kingdom Outreach. I really do miss all the family at church and in the Outreach Ministries. I know Chris Gann and Chris Hayes has really been keeping it going and a BIG thanks to them. You just don't know what it means when you are gone this long and you know that we have such a wonderful church family. Everyone is sooooo special to us. I can't wait for all of you to meet our Luke and Micah and for them to meet their new awesome family as well. They just don't have a clue how great their lives will be at home. They get sooooooo excited over any little thing. Tonight Penny was having to dry their underwear with a hair dryer (I don't think there is a clothes dryer in this country at all) and the boys were taking part by holding them while Penny used the dryer. They were soooooo excited. They get very excited when Penny start to cook and yell out AWWWWWW SOOOOUP. They think everytime she pulls out a pot or pan she is cooking soup. Thats a lot of what they ate at the orphanage. Very little on the menu there. They love to say their prayers with mama and papa. We make them simple for them and we usually say at meals, Thank you Jesus for this food and we love You, AMEN. And at bedtime it is usually, We love You Jesus and thank you for this day, AMEN. Of course they love baths (Penny told you I think) and they love to brush their teeth also. They have even learned now to pick up the toilet seat so they won't go peepee on it. They are so wonderful and they have already pick-up so much from us since we got the last Friday. And I am gonna have a time with them when we get home cause they love to used the remote for the TV. They fight over it and usually I have to put it on top of the refrigerator. When we get home papa will have to hide it so he can use it and keep them away from it. LOL We made paper airplanes and paper footballs one day and they loved it. You should have seen them trying to make there on. It was hilarious. They are sooooo funny to watch in all they do. Their is also a new game they love to play. It is Lets-ask-mama-whose-hat-they-have. They have the same Snoopy hat we bought them (they have to have the same or they will fight over one or the other, they are just like twins) at the market and we have Luke's name in his and that is the only way we can tell the difference. Its really weird staying in this apartment because the subway here is under us and you can feel the rumbling and here the sounds, but I have to say they don't bother us cause they are not loud, its just cool to here them and know that it's under us. Well I guess I have told you all I can think of right now. I hope the blogger is back and ready for pics tomorrow. We didn't have many today but really did want you to see them. Please keep us in your prayers. Remember to be Christian is to be Christ-Like. Jesus was here in the flesh to show the family of God (The Church) how we were supposted to live and we have an obligation to do what he did. If Jesus came to serve us and do the Father's will, how much more do we owe Him ourselves to do His will. Eternity is forever and ever. Don't waste time here doing the worlds will and your own, but do his. We have treasure to store up in Heaven and the Father wants to bless us now so we can use it to bless others, not just ourselves. Pray for wisdom. Listen for the Lord to speak to you in the word and in prayer. He will and you will be blessed forever.

WE LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU!!!!!!!!

James, Penny, Luke and Micah

Finally Able to Download Pics

It's hard to believe we have been here almost 8 weeks. It feels like we have lived here for 6 months. The pics are of St Andrew's and the playground we went to yesterday. Yesterday we we able to walk down to a better playground that was just redone. The boys had a good time. Well, at least I know Luke did. Micah woke up very ill from his nap. He finally started playing. We put them on a ride that goes around and around (merry-go-round)Micah got drunk and it was really funny.

We walked down the street to look for a market that Ben told us about. It was really small but had basically everything we needed. We were able to get enough for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 days. I bought some macaroni noodles, cheese, milk and butter. We had macaroni and cheese tonight with hot dogs. Wow, that has been the closest thing to home cooking since we left home. Micah loved it but Luke did not. I can't believe I have a picky child when it comes to eating. Take in mind this was not out of a box. I think it is a little hard adjusting Luke to different foods. I plan on trying to buy some things to make soup tomorrow.

Yesterday Natalya came by and took their pictures for their passports. Sasha came by today and picked up Luke's original birth certificate. He is going tomorrow to apply for the passports. We will go Thursday and get the boys medicals. Currently Sasha has someone translating all the paperwork to English and will make us a copy of everything. He said there is a possibility we could get the passports on Friday and go to the Embassy on Friday. We need everyone praying this will happen so we can get out of here by Saturday. We cannot afford to change our flight plans again. We were told we had open ended tickets and it would not cost to change but Northwest still charged us.

This morning about 3 am we heard some water and went to the bathroom and the hose that led into the the toliet had come off. We started praying really quick and James found whaere to cut it off. The plumber had to come out and fix it so we stayed here all day. After he left we thought everything was fine and then noticed a puddle in the bathroom again. We had to call them to come back out. It took a while but they finally got it fixed.

Well, I have 2 little rugrats sitting in my lap as I type with one hand so I will say good-night. Luke is wanting to play pinball.

In His Love,

Penny, James, Luke and Micah