Monday Pics

Here are some pictures we took yesterday around the place where we are staying. As you can see the cuisine is very interesting. The stuff that looks like salsa is some type of chow chow and is very good. We eat a lot of soup and potatoes.

We walked down to the river and sat there for a while. It got much cooler yesterday so it was very pleasant. The temps will only be in the 70's this week. We also walked down to the local market and passed some interesting animals. I had to get out of the way of the cows. We also took a picture of a well that they get their water from. We only drink bottled water with no gas which is the light blue cap. They also have coke products. I had the best ice cream yesterday that I think I have ever tasted. It was grape and vanilla and when you got to the bottom of the cone it had chocolate in it. Mom I thought about how much Dad would have loved that (Kyle too). I will post more pictures of the boys this evening.

We went today and met with the Director of the orphanage and she is very pleased we are adopting the boys. She looked at pictures we had made on our camera and smiled. She also said that Micah was very sneaky. He has earned a reputation here at the orphanage. She will give us the paperwork we need to submit to the courts on Thursday. Her secretary was out today due to a death in the family. The director has to go to a conference in Kiev tomorrow so she said Thursday would be the earliest.

We went back to the SDA and picked up our dossier. The asst director was so nice and told Natalia she is very pleased for us. We told her we were very happy with the boys. She gave me a hug which was very surprising. Everyone has treated us so nice here. We went and found a place to make and extra copy of our dossier and now Natalia is trying to find someone to notarize it. The only people that are notaries here are people with some type of law degree. The problem is no one wants to do it. Pray that we will find someone tomorrow. It looks like it will be sometime next week before we can get an appointment with the court.

Please pray for me. I have caught a head cold and did not sleep much last night. I will post more this evening.

Another fun day on the slide

They love to slide. Also their favorite things are for us to count and they repeat it and then we grab them up and swing them around. They love to ride on James shoulders and on my back. We were a little sore this morning between swinging them around and the bed we sleep on. As you can see in the picture of Micah on my back he is always sticking out his tongue. We tell him not to do that and he just repeats don't do that.

Today is a holiday so we will not be going to the orphanage. We called Natalia and had her to explain to Luke why we could not come today. The director will return from vacation tomorrow so Natalia will get the paperwork started for our court date. We plan on hanging out in our room and taking a walk down to the water. I've got to wash a few clothes. I never thought I would be washing clothes in a bathtub and hanging them out to dry. Boy am I spoiled.

There are yellow jackets everywhere here. We have to leave the windows open due to no air conditioner and yellow jackets fly in and out all day. The weather is perfect today. The highs are in the 70's. We had a big storm last night so it really cooled off.

I can't believe we have been here 9 days. We are so ready to come home but we know we have to be patient. Well, I have to go and wash clothes now.

Waking up to a Bang!

We woke up the morning to the sound of a loud clanging on these bells. They hit them with a hammer to symbolize it is time for church. Pastor- this may be a good way to get people to come to Sunday School. There's no way you can sleep thru the noise.ha ha

We had another good visit with the boys.When we went to get Micah he ran to me and gave me a big hug!We went outside and they ran, played and giggled. They had a race to see who could finish their juice first and of course our little piglet Micah won. Micah broke his water gun yesterday so he did not have one to play with. He got too rough and broke Luke's today. Of course you know what came next, he had to be punished and was put in time out. He is learning that there are consequences to his behavior. This biggest thing we have to work on will be his squealing. I can see us now on that long flight home and he starts squealing. Don't worry, I brought children's benadryl.

Please pray for Micah as he has a very runny nose. I'm not sure if we are allowed to give him any medication but will find out. I brought children's motrin. The good thing is that it is just a very runny nose and no fever.

There is a picture below of Luke holding up a picture he colored for us. They are both right handed. Luke likes to use all the colors and Micah likes to use one color on his picture.

Also, pray that we get some much needed rest. It is very noisy at night and our bed is not the most comfortable one we have ever slept on. We just keep pretending we are camping since we have to leave the windows open and there are no screens on them.

We added a few pics below. The big building is where we are staying. Below also are some pics of the city. The one of the Ukraine flags is the circle that everyone goes around and the cars just blend together.

We wish we could be at church today. We want everyone to know what an awesome God we serve. He has provided for us more than we can think or imagine. We pray He continues to bless everyone that has had a hand in our journey.

Ginger- I'm glad to hear that Eli is feeling better. It also comforts me that he is letting you hold him and love on him. I was worried about him getting depressed but sounds like everything is going very good. I'm so glad God brought you into our lives. There is a picture below of a dog that came up while we were playing with the boys. He grabbed the tennis ball and started walking off. We played ball with him and it reminded us of home. The boys are a little scared of suboka's (dogs) but I think today they enjoyed watching us throw the ball and the dog bring it back to us.

Mom, Betty and Chris G.- thanks for going to the house and working on their room. I know it will be wonderful. We love you!

Pics from Sunday Morning 24th

Best Day Yet!

We had 2 great visits today. This morning we went to the orphanage and 1st we went to Luke's room then we went to get Micah. Micah was sitting in the floor with all the other children watching cartoons. He got dressed and we went out to play. I guess you can tell by now they only have about 2 sets of clothes. They won't have to worry about that when we get home. Meme is already loading them up.

We played with water guns and on the slide. We also gave both of them beach balls so they love kicking those around. We found out that Luke loves yogurt. He started saying "num num". After he ate all of his he kept licking the cup. Micah liked it but not as much as bananas.

James had to get on to Micah several times today. He likes to stick his tongue out when he gets in trouble and thinks it's funny. Boy, we have our work cut out for us but I wouldn't change a thing.

Kyle- Aunt Penny is sitting here listening to the chicken dance song while I'm typing. There are a lot of kids staying here. It is like a summer camp. Uncle James says hello to "His Friend".

We brought several books and point to the pictures and they repeat it in English. James read a race car book and Micah repeated every word. Luke thought it was funny.

We are getting better communicating with them. James has learned when they want on his shoulders. Luke fell and opened up a boo boo that was already on his knee. He started crying and let us pick him up and hold him. We cleaned it off and put some antibiotic cream on it. At first he was scared but we blew on it and he got better.

There are dogs everywhere in this city. The ones at the orphanage get chicken bones to eat. James and I kept worrying they would choke but they didn't.

The food here at the hotel is different but edible. We have had some very good meals and some not so good. This morning we had chicken, noodles, tomatoes, fresh bread and peaches for breakfast. For lunch we had beet,corn and cheese salad (surprisingly good), James thought the beets taste like dirt. We also had a cabbage roll with pork (we think)in the middle and mash potatoes designed like a seashell. The best was the watermelon. Tonight I told James how much I was craving salsa. We got to dinner and guess what, we had a plate with onions, tomatoes and peppers with a sweet taste. It was very good. We had egg custard (unsweetened)and 2 meatballs (maybe sausage?) on a plate of some kind of oats. I thought it may be some kind of wheat. We also had rolls and cookies. To drink they give us hot tea and juice that taste like plums.

I guess you can say the biggest things we have had to overcome are the smells. When you turn on the water you smell some kind of gas. Cab rides you smell the fumes from the thousands of cars trying to all get in the same lane. The noise everywhere is pretty loud. I guess because their independence day is Monday so the cities are already celebrating with loud music and fire works. It interesting until about 11pm when you are trying to go to sleep. James is hoping that it's fireworks we are hearing and not Russia. There is only so much you can do with a Swiss army knife. Ha ha!

Thanks again for all your comments.

Mom and Betty- The first thing we want when we get home is a diet Mt Dew and a Diet Dr Pepper with lots of ice.

We sure do miss everyone and I think Lee Greenwood said it best "I'm Proud to be an American!!!".

Saturday 23rd

Friday, August 22nd

Hello everyone, we have had a wonderful day with our 2 boys. We went to visit this morning and they played with their water guns again. They played on the slide and chased each other. As you can see, Papa got into the water battle also.

After our morning visit we went back to our motel and checked out. We are staying at a health resort. They have mineral waters to help people with skin problems. I know it sounds like we are in luxury but remember this is Ukraine not America. We do have a beautiful view as you can see in the below picture. We know we will stay here for the next 2 weeks. Not sure after that.

Our facilitator Natalia went home for the weekend so we went to the orphanage this afternoon just the 2 of us. We did not take the water guns and the boys were a little disappointed but they got so dirty this morning we felt we needed to only take them once a day. We did fine communicating. We have showed them picture books and tell them the word in English and they repeat it.

Micah repeats everything we say. I think they will pick up on English pretty quick.
Micah is also very strong willed. Today he kicked Luke in the back when they were playing on the slide. We had to get on to him and comfort Luke. Boys will be boys no matter where you are.

As you can see in the picture they love juice. We brought them to sippy cups and they liked drinking out of those. Micah loves bananas and Luke loves apples. You should see Micah eat. He grabs the banana and tries to shove the whole thing in his mouth (peel and all) They also like cheese crackers.

We are very tired tonight and missing our bed but God has been so faithful that we cannot complain. Thanks to everyone who has left comments. We need your words of encouragement.

Pastor, James is missing you too. Hopefully we will only be here about 3 more weeks if everything goes well.

Ginger- Thanks for taking care of my baby Eli.

Aultman's we appreciate your prayers!!

Both our Mom's we Love you!!! Your phone calls keep us going!!

Chris Hayes,Chris Gann, B&B, Faith Worship and Medassist- James and I appreciate your support and miss you all!