Day 22 (Mon Feb 28th) - Dnepro - Rest Day

Well, today was the last rest day before the "big" day.  We went a few blocks down the road for to check out a bigger store.  We found some pork chops and did them for dinner tonight.  Yummy!  Just like home. :)  We found some of the shelf milk Sis. Nielsen's and even got some strawberry to try. :)  On our way back we hit McDonald's.  It was super loud in there, but ah...familiar fast food. LOL

Other than that we prepped a bit for court tomorrow.  We're all a little nervous, but I'm sure we will be just fine. We called Ira as well and she seemed fine again.  She has picked out what she will wear for tomorrow.  We could use your prayers for tomorrow.  We'll be in court in the middle of the night for you guys so don't worry about waking up to pray at the actual time. :)

Wish us luck!

Day 21 (Sun Feb 27) Dnepropetrovsk - Visit Ira

We were on our usual 10:30 bus this morning.  We tried to call our smelly car guy a few times but with no luck so we had to walk from the bus station to the orphanage.  It was particularly windy and, of course, we have to walk into the wind.

Something very interesting happened.  The director came in and with her was our judge.  They took Ira off to talk to her.  Later Masha asked what they'd talked about.  If they'd told her how to act and such.  Ira said they told her to answer how she wants.  Masha asked if she has decided how she will answer and she said she will go with us.  Masha asked if she wanted to come with us for the waiting period or if she wanted to stay at the orphanage and she said she wants to stay.  No surprise there.  I don't think she has a choice anyway, but before we ask it's good to know she wouldn't want to anyway.

We had a very nice game of Phase 10 going before we had to leave.

I heard back from Sis. Nielsen.  They will be back today.  We'll go see her tomorrow morning.

We got back and Masha told us that as we were getting dressed to leave the orphanage she asked Ira one more time if her answer is yes.  Guess what  she said?  Her famous answer.  I don't know.  Man, this girl is going to drive us to an early grave before we ever get her.  IF we ever get her.

Days 19 and 20 (Fri and Sat Feb 25th and 26th) Dnepro - Rest Days

Our "rest days" are actually pretty boring.  Little One and I watched a couple of Next Generation episodes yesterday.  We've been playing Oregon Trail on my iPod. LOL

One thing I forgot to mention is about when Husband got his plane ticket switched.  He just casually mentioned that we were doing an adoption and things had taken a little longer than we'd planned on.  The lady said, "Oh, you're doing an adoption?  I'll wave the change fee then."  I guess for adoptions, they do that and they will do that for mine and Little One's tickets as well when we change them.  It only ended up costing him $270 for the difference in fare instead of $520 (for that plus the $250 change fee.)  Delta is awesome. :^)  Keep that in mind when you guys start buying tickets!

Little One is about the same.  No new bites/hives/whatever they are, that we can tell, but not really any better either.  We started worrying that maybe it was chickenpox, but after looking at pictures of chickenpox on WebMD that isn't what it is.  Thank goodness because Masha hasn't had them and I bet the kids in the orphanage wouldn't have appreciated that either.  It looks like it might be flea or bed bug bites, but it could also be hives.  If it's bites we have no idea why just her and not the rest of us.  We're in very close quarters here and while none of the rest of us have slept on this chair, we've all been sitting on it LOTS.

We didn't hear anything from the director, who had told us she'd call if there was a change in plans and Ira didn't come to Dnepro, so we called this morning to find out what the plan was.  Where to meet, etc....  Well, come to find out that Ira didn't go after all.  We don't know why for sure, but hey.  And, it was too late to take the bus over there.  We had planned on seeing her today and then not again until our court on Tuesday.  Now we're not quite sure what to do.  We can skip church tomorrow, which Husband really wants to do.  I really need that recharge, even when I can't understand anything.  I'm sure I won't get it though and we'll be going to the orphanage.  It will make 3 of the last 4 weeks that I've missed.  That's life, I suppose.  We'll go Tuesday and Wednesday both, since Husband will need Thursday to pack and be on the train to Kiev and he really wants to see her as much as possible before he goes home.

So, here we sit. :)  I'm going to go ahead and count this as my post for the day since I'm sure we won't be doing anything exciting the rest of the day.  If, for some reason, we do, I will add it to this post later.  TTFN!

*Update*

We did call Ira.  She was disappointed she didn't get to go.  Understandable.  She, over her own accord even, said she missed us and loves us.  I think we stand a good chance of our court going well. :^)

Day 18 (Thurs. Feb 24th) - Dnepro - Visit Ira

Sorry!  This is all written as if I'd written it yesterday, because I did in fact, do just that.  I went to post it and we'd lost internet.  Husband and Masha went to go fix it and there was a lady in the apartment where the modem is and she was already getting in bed and wanted us to wait until morning.  This also meant I couldn't watch Discovery's last launch.  Sad.


I forgot to mention in my last post about the weird bites (??) on Little One.  She's got them all over one arm and then here and there over the rest of her.  Sometimes they itch and they look kinda like mosquito bites.  Benadryl helps some.  We haven't seen any signs of bugs but that's not always a sign that they're not bites.  I'm hoping to have Sis. Nielsen take a look at her to see if she's seen anything like this on missionaries before and could give us a clue as to what it might be.


Now, on to what I'd typed yesterday....


Little One and I almost didn't go today.  Her bites, while we weren't seeing new ones, were a little puffed up again so we gave her some more Benadryl.  She wouldn't take it and I told her I would stay home with her if she didn't take it.  She finally did, but only after the pill had sat in her oatmeal long enough to dissolve.  Holy cow!

We called the director and asked if we could have a guy come pick us up once we got to the bus station.  She arranged for someone to do that.  His car smelled horrible and he had a half naked woman hanging from his rear view mirror, but it was worth the 20 grevnas to not have to walk either way.

Ira was in and out a lot today.  Fairly talkative to Masha when she was with us, but kind of uncomfortable still.

We got a phone call from Lana with a time for our court date.  Our 11th day will fall on a Saturday so we won't get her until the next Monday.  Such is life.  We did hear for sure that it will be calendar days though, and not business days.

Little One wanted Ira to play UNO and she ran and got Valya to play too.  Husband played with them and it was fun to watch.

When the director walked by we gave her the hats and gloves that we had.  She seemed happy with them and let the older kids come pick things they wanted.  There a bunch of tiny gloves that they couldn't use but we will take them to Natasha and she will make sure they get someplace they will be useful.  I very much wanted to take some pictures, but I didn't.

We found out that some of the girls, Ira included, get to go to Dnepropetrovsk on Saturday with someone that teaches them English. We will get to meet up with them which will be lots of fun.  It will be nice that Husband gets to be there too, since he had to change his plane ticket.

UNO started up again after that and the girls (Kristina had also joined by his time) were all getting pretty giggly.  I've actually never seen Ira act like she was acting.

We got hugs from all the girls when we left today. It was nice.

Day 17 (Wed Feb 23rd) - Dnepro - Rest Day

We decided to take yesterday off as well.  It's super, super cold outside and it's supposed to warm up a bit toward the end of the week.  That means that our high will almost reach freezing.  Almost.  Sunday it's supposed to be maybe 27F.

It was another lazy day.  Husband went downstairs with Little One and Masha and got his hair cut.  I'd meant to cut it before we left but ran out of time.  He was getting quite the mullet. LOL  We did some laundry and went to the store.  We go to the store about everyday. :^)  We watched a movie together too, and that was nice.  We got some pointers from Natasha about our court hearing, which was very helpful.  We also Skyped with our families.

Sorry for the boring post. :^)

Day 16 (Tuesday Feb 22nd) Dnepro - Rest Day

Yesterday we slept in until 10 again.  Boy, that's nice! :^)  I spent most of the day being bummed out though.  If our 10 days is really 10 business days that means it will into 18 with the weekends and the upcoming 2 day Woman's Day holiday.  I was seriously considering just going home with Husband if that's the case.  I would have two full weeks at home to regroup in my comfortable house with my familiar food before coming back to brave the frozen tundra that is Ukraine right now.  I wasn't looking forward to coming back completely on my own though.  And, that would mean leaving Little One for at least a week and a half.  Sorry, Mom.  You never left me like that as a kid so I have a hard time with the thought of it.  Still...it was something I was seriously thinking about.

Little One was on one too.  She was bored and tired.  Not the best combination.  While getting school stuff ready for her we decided she needed a nap more than she needed school.  She's probably going to end up telling Masha the same thing she told Mom when we lived with them in Florida last year.  "I don't like living in the same house with you.  You see what I do." LOL  It was quite entertaining for Masha to watch/hear her, I'm sure.

That evening we talked with Ellie for an hour about all kinds of things.  That was very nice.  After that, we talked to Natasha and found out that they had picked up our paper from the SDA!  Yea!  That was the last thing we were waiting for before our court date.

Talking to both Ellie and Natasha (and the guy from Colorado who just got back) they all say that the 10 days should be just that.  10 days.  It shouldn't have anything to do with business days.  I felt so much better after hearing that.  If that's the case then I can hang on here for that long so that when I come home, I'm home and don't have to go back.  I'm still a little nervous about it until I actually hear for sure that that's the way it will be, but I'm hopeful.  Please pray that our court will go well and that the 10 days will, in fact, be calendar days!

Day 15 (Monday 21st) - Dnepropetrovsk - Visit Ira

We made our 10:30 bus this morning.  That was nice not to have to wait in the freezing bus station for an hour.  This bus had heat that was actually turned on, which was also nice.  The only problem was when we were about 15 or 20 minutes out of the village and he bus broke down.  We sat there freezing for about 40 minutes while the driver worked on it.  I was very impressed that no one was complaining about the hold up.  It was nice and the driver was doing the very best he could to fix it.

We finally got there and the walk to the orphanage was long.  It was colder than before and...yeah, very cold.  We did get to buy our return tickets this time though.

Our visit with Ira was really nice this time.  She was happy and talkative, at least as much as such a language barrier will let her.  She was also trying to communicate with us on her own more.  Masha stepped out for a bit too, which helped that, but before she just would have been quiet or left too and today she tried to talk.

I worked on the socks I'm knitting her and Husband and Little One played UNO with her.  The director showed us some dressed Ira had crocheted for some dolls.  Ira hadn't wanted to show us so I'm glad the director did. Lol. I need to find out her name so I can quit calling her "the director."

The dresses Ira crocheted

Ira came and showed me her English vocabulary book from school.  That was very fun.

The whole village has been out of water for three days now.  No wonder the toilets didn't flush.  They had a store saved up but that only lasts so long.  I guess they send the boys out to get some from a well and bring it back by wagon.

The director got us a ride back to the bus station that didn't cost us so much.  In fact, he insisted on no payment.  I hope we can talk him into letting us pay him so we can use him again.

The bus on the way back actually had heat on as well.  Not that it was super warm but at least it wasn't freezing.  A warm shower upon returning to the apartment was perfect though.  Not only that, but we came back to a clean apartment.  We'd asked to have it cleaned today since they do it once a week.  Boy was that nice! :^)

Day 14 (Sunday the 20th) - Dnepro - Church

Sorry!  We were pretty beat after yesterday and between skyping at night and such, it doesn't leave me much time to blog.  I have written not only about today, but also yesterday so check the next post down as well.

Today was a good day.  It's nice having church at 11. :)  We got up and had plenty of time to get ready without too much time.  We live right down the street from the mission president and his wife and they came to pick us up at 25 'till.  It was so nice to finally meet them!  What sweet people they are!  I said hello from Elder Faber and his family. :^)

The church is on the 3rd floor of a fairly nice building not far away from where we're staying.  If it weren't so cold it would be a pleasant walk.  We will have to next week so I hope it's a bit warmer! LOL

For sacrament we had Elder Belnap interpret the talks.  He's just about ready to go home.  He was very nice and very helpful.  We also met a sister from close by where we live that just got here 2 days ago and still has a bit of jet lag.  There was another missionary about an hour from where we live.  Elder and Sister Hardy are from Colorado.  They are the office missionaries.  Then there is Elder Hammon from the same city we're from!  He actually went to high school with some of the kids in our neighborhood. :^)  He asked for us to call his mom when we get home and tell her hi from her son.  Husband will do that as soon as he gets home.

Husband went to Sunday School and Priesthood but I went with Little One to primary.  It was pretty boring at first because she couldn't understand.  She kept saying this wasn't like what she thought. LOL  A big part of it was that there were only 2 other kids.  A boy about her age and a girl around 9 or 10.  The little boy looked like he was having as much fun as Little One.  It was really only the girl that was being taught, though I don't know the situation.  For the second hour they were making a card for their mothers.  Little One decided I didn't need one and made it for Ira instead.  Such a nice daughter I have.  She at least enjoyed that part of it.

After church Pres. and Sis. Nielson invited us over to their apartment for dinner.  Masha came for that as well, which was super nice.  We had a very nice couple of hours with them.  They have a very large, VERY gorgeous apartment.

Sis. Nielsen made a very yummy dinner.  We had twice baked potatoes and some kind of meatballs that I actually liked.  We had some canned corn and some canned green beans with sauteed  onions.  I was surprised that I really liked that too.  We got advice on what milk to get and found some that Little One liked. We very much enjoyed our visit.  Sis. Nielsen gave us some powered milk to try.  She also snuck in the leftovers and some bags.  She is so sweet!

We just relaxed the rest of the day.  It was very nice.  I hope I get to take Ira with me once before we head back to Kiev.

Here are some pictures of the view out Pres. and Sis. Nielsen's apartment.

Crazy, crazy ice fishers on the Dnepro River.  Not exactly thick ice on that.

Day 13 (Saturday the 19th) - Dnepro - Visit to the Orphanage

Yesterday we got up at 8 in order to be on the 10:30 bus to the village.  It was nice not to feel rushed getting ready to the bus, but next time we need to rush just a bit more.  We missed the bus by 5 minutes and had to wait for the 11:20 one.  This bus was still a real bus though (not a mini bus) and it was actually warm-ish. LOL  Little One watched a movie the whole way over and killed the battery on the nano.  I enjoyed some music and it was actually a nice ride.

We thought the weather was going to be similar to the day before when we walked to the museum but not so.  It was very cold as we walked from the bus station to the orphanage.  It's about a 20 minute walk.  Little One didn't do quite as well, but all in all it wasn't too bad.

They were very strict with the rules this time.  Ira was supposed to close the door when she went in or out.  She did this quite a bit, as a matter of fact. LOL  She seemed pretty uncomfortable around us and was fairly happy at any chance to run out for a minute.  It made for an interesting visit.

We tried to buy return bus tickets when we got there so we didn't run into the same problems as we did last time.  There wasn't anyone in the booth though.  We waited for awhile and then decided to just go ahead and go and then call while we were at the orphanage.  At 4pm Masha called a taxi to come get us to take us to the bus station at 4:30 and then called to make sure we could get tickets on that 4:50 bus back.  It's a good thing because we found out that actually the last bus was at 4:20.  We called the taxi guy back (who charged an arm and a leg to go maybe a mile) and ran over there right away.  We made the bus, but not with much time to spare.  Hopefully we'll get this thing figured out before long.  It was quite the cold ride home though!  They don't heat the buses and with the sun having gone down it was VERY cold.  I might have to figure out how to carry a blanket with me the whole day.  Little One was, as usual, just fine and not at all cold.

After we got home and went to the store, Little One and I showered and then Skyped with both families.  By the time we finished, it was bed time! :^)  Not a very exciting day.  I did, however, take a few pictures of our apartment the night before.  Here's where we're at now.

There is our front door with the bathroom door to the left.  That bed that Little One is on turns into a chair during the day.

Bathroom

Bathroom

Bathroom door again with the kitchen/dining room.  Yes, that is a washing machine and the fridge is really that small.  No oven either. :^)

This also turns into a bed for Masha

Our bedroom

Our bedroom.  Behind the curtain is a balcony

Here you can see the door to the balcony, but it's freezing so we don't go out there.

Day 12 (Fri Feb 18th) - Dnepro - Another Relaxing Day

Today we took the day off again.  It was nice.  Little One woke up much earlier today, thereby waking Husband and me up as well.  Masha woke up for a bit too, but then went back to sleep.  We finally got up around 10am. LOL

Most of the day we just hung out at the apartment.  We did venture out and go to a museum up the street.  On the way we stopped at a paper/art store.  It was pretty cool. :^)  I liked it in there.  In the museum there were a lot of little things made with beads, which the kids at the orphanage would have loved to see!  It was pretty good.  There were also a bunch of handmade things you could guess what they were, but we had no idea so we didn't even try.  There were also a few super old video cameras and still cameras.  That part was kinda neat.  I hate how they charge to take pictures.  It hasn't been worth it to me yet.  There have been a couple of things but nothing I've just really been dying to take a picture of.  Except for the miniature things there at Lavra, but you couldn't have photographed them well anyway.  Not with my camera. LOL

We watched Ever After last night and we might watch something again tonight.  Masha is going to a concert tonight, but we're in for the day.  We did call Sis. Nielsen and she and Pres. Nielsen are going to pick us up for church on Sunday.  We live super close to them and we're only maybe a 5-10 minute walk from where the branch meets.  They're going to drive us though.  I'm excited to finally meet them.  Tomorrow we head back over to the orphanage for a couple of hours.

Here are a few pictures I took as we walked to the museum today.

This isn't the best picture, but the street we live by is actually quite pretty.

A pretty building

The museum

Masha by the museum

Of course, Little One wanted to be in one with her too. :^)

I love these sidewalks!

A pretty apartment building

Day 11 (Thurs Feb 17th) - Dnepro - A rest day

Wow!  Three posts in one day!  That's a record. :^)  Not too much to report today.  It was SO nice to sleep in this morning until 10:30 and then Little One even had a nap 2 or 3 hours later on top of that. LOL

We got the apartment cleaned up a bit (the floor gets dirty pretty fast with our yucky shoes from outside.)  I also finally got unpacked!  We still haven't found our USB splitter.  We must have left it in Kiev.  Maybe we can ask Natasha to call that landlady there to ask if she ever saw it.  I also got caught up on computer stuff.

We called Ira today around 4:30 or so and she was in English classes.  We called back awhile later and she was eating.  She was good by the time we called the third time.  She sounded happy and excited.  She even asked us questions about America of her own accord.  She wanted to know if she would be a dual citizen and if, when she grows up, she can go visit Ukraine.  She said when she grows up maybe she will go get some kids out of the orphanage. :^)  She was taking a shower earlier and the water got cold so she ran out. LOL

We went down to the store and got a few things.  Exciting stuff, I know.

Now it's time for me to shower and then we're going to watch a movie together.  It's been a good day. :^)

Day 10 (Wed Feb 16th)- Dnepro - Court Date Received

We were up at 5 yesterday morning and on our way to the village to turn in our documents to the court.  Lana needed some extra copies of things so we went to the orphanage while she did that as well as went to the court. We visited again for a little bit and then I got out our drawing book I got in Disney World and Karissa and Ira drew pictures for a little while.

We brought our computer with us so we checked out our English program with Masha and then decided to watch a movie on it together while we waited for Lana.  We tried to watch Princess and the Frog but it didn't rip right so we did Mulan instead.  One of Masha's very favorites. :^)

The director was very sweet and had worried about us not eating anything yesterday so she fed us lunch.  We had to eat by ourselves, but still.  It was very nice of her.  The drink was apricot juice and the bread was the best tasting I've had here.  Super yummy.

Once the movie was done a few of the girls came in and played UNO again with Husband and Little One while Masha and I watched.

All our waiting paid off because we did get a court date today.  It's a bit later than we'd hoped, but not too bad.  We might be able to get it moved up as well depending on when we get our paper from the SDA.  Husband just really needs to get home and get back to work or we don't have anything to pay our bills for March with! LOL

We told Ira when our date is and she started crying again.  It seemed different this time though.  More sad and having it feel more real now, but not "I don't know...I will miss my friends, etc...."  Hopefully it continues to go okay because until then we'd had a great day with her with no tears up until that point.  Part of what's bothering her too is that she's getting a lot of attention from all the kids now because she's going to America and she's not liking being in the middle of things. :^)  What is this girl going to do the first time she's asked to give a talk?!?! LOL

And, I finally have a second to get you pictures of our first apartment here in Dnepro.  I haven't taken any yet of the one we're in now.  Soon, now that can actually unpack. :^)

The entry way

Bathroom

Shower/washer in the bathroom

Kitchen

Kitchen 

Living Room

Computer desk in the living room

Bedroom - view 1

Bedroom 2, you can see our room for drying clothes there behind the drapes

A room for drying clothes...this was really nice!

Day 9 (Tues Feb 15th) - Dnepro - Letter Written

Tuesday we were up very early and in the village by 8:30am to do some stuff at the inspector's office.  Ira was at the hospital getting her medical conclusion done.  We figured that was a good sign.  We went to a different cafe (this one seemed better than the last one...although that doesn't take much) to get something to drink while we waited.  At 10:30 we went to the orphanage and met in the director's office.  Lana, the director and the inspectors all talked about paperwork.

Once Ira got back we went into our room and visited.  It was actually a nice visit.  We talked about things she likes (dancing, drawing, singing, history, PE, etc...) and what we will do when we get to America.

Lana came in and told Ira it was time to write her letter.  She went back (I had been hoping to take a picture of her doing so, but it was good I wasn't there I think) and after a long time the inspectors came in to say she had just sat there crying.  She kept saying she wanted to go, but she was afraid and would miss her friends.  They didn't want to pressure her so they told her she could write it anytime in the next two days and they would continue to move forward with the paperwork.  She said she would write it, but wanted to do it later.

She came back in and we visited for a bit again (she was making little beaded things) and then Lana came in.  She told Ira she really needed those letters (she had to write two copies) today.  Ira kept saying later.  Lana left and it wasn't long before Ira said she wanted to talk to the director.  It was a LONG time before she came back.  When she did though, she'd been crying but had written her letters.  She decided on a name as well, which I'm not going to put on here right now. :^)  Lana was pretty frantically getting paperwork done and even tried to get the documents turned into the court, but missed them by 10 minutes.  While we waited for her some of the other kids wondered in and we played UNO and some game where you guess who has a ring.

We finally left the orphanage at about 6:30 and got back to Dnepro at about 8:30.  By the time we got dinner, lost our power and got it fixed, got ready for bed and talked to family, it was after midnight!  What a long day!

Slight Update

I'm so sorry!  I know everyone is wanting an update but the last two days have been SOOOO long.  We are headed to bed right now and finally planning on sleeping to our hearts content.  Just know that things are a bit shaky as usual, but going well.  I will give more details tomorrow, but Ira did write her letter yesterday and today we got a court date.  Again, I will give more details tomorrow.  Goodnight, everyone!

XOXO

Day 8 (Mon Feb 14th) - Dnepro - Moving Day

First of all, I have no comments from either of my posts from yesterday.  If no one has commented, that would explain it, but if people have then they didn't come through for some reason.  If you don't see your comment appear within 24 hours, I probably didn't get it so please send it again!

Today has been quite an interesting day.  We got word in the morning that we could move to our new apartment right away!  We liked the other one, but the trouble we were having with the internet card was just not good.  That is how we communicate with our family and such and we couldn't even voice Skype without it cutting off every couple of minutes.  It was very annoying and and didn't work well at all.

We started packing up and then got a call from Lana.  She said that Ira was saying she didn't want to go again and we needed to get over to the orphanage right away.  We figured we could get our stuff over to the new place and still get over to the orphanage with some time before we needed to head back.  By the time we got to the new apartment though, we'd heard that director wanted us to not come today so that Ira could think about it and then she would keep her out of school tomorrow for us to come visit.

It was nice not to have to drive over there, but we missed seeing Ira.  Lana and the director talked to her and again, it was just that she didn't want to leave the people she loves here.  Yes she likes us though.  The director was trying to have her make a wise decision and on that would be best for her.  In the end, she said yes she will go with us again, but we are still on pins and needles, so to speak.  The director wants her to sleep on it and tomorrow we will come to visit early in the morning, at which time she will write her letter and we can get going on the paperwork.

Holy cow.  Talk about a rollercoaster of a day!  Somehow I don't think the ride is over.  Not until we are done with the court at least.  Maybe not even then.  Who knows?  We just pray, as we've been doing for a couple of months now, that if it is the Lord's will that she be a part of our family that she will have the courage to go all the way through with this.

Day 7 (Sun Feb 13th) - Dnepro - Visit Orphanage/Learn Rules

Look at this!  I will be all caught up after this!  Don't plan on it staying that way though! LOL  By the way, I went back on whatever day our SDA appointment was (the post with only pictures) and added some information about it and all.  Go back and check if you'd like.  I know at least Steph had asked for that. :^)

Okay, on to today.  With the bus schedules the way they are, we couldn't go to church AND visit Ira.  At least for this week, we felt it was more important we visit with her instead.  We caught a 10:30 bus to the village this morning.  We got there about 12:30pm and then walked to the orphanage.  It was quite cold!  It only took us 15 or 20 minutes to walk there, but still!  It's not too bad without wind, but man, that wind is a killer!  Luckily it was only a gust here and there instead of all the time.

We were taken up to our usual room when we got there.  The kids were eating lunch so it took Ira a minute to get up there.  We had the psychologist with us and were told some interesting rules while Ira went to go get Little Masha to come play too.  We aren't to communicate with the other children at all.  No pictures.  No wandering around the orphanage at all.  And, we have to have the psychologist (or someone from the orphanage) with us in the room at all times.   I don't mind someone being there with us all the time, but it's so hard to think about not being able to see the other kids or take pictures!  Please pray for hearts to be softened as we visit so that the restrictions might be lifted.

We did have a nice time though before we headed back on the bus.  The bus was quite cold as well so by the time we got home, some hot chocolate hit the spot. :^)

We're trying to move to a different apartment, hopefully tomorrow, so we don't know if we will be able to go visit again or not.  It will be a place with unlimited internet as well as two hide-a-beds which will fit us better for when Lana is here with us.  Our paperwork starts tomorrow as well, but I guess we don't need to do anything for that yet.  It's all stuff Lana will take care of.  Again, sorry I can't post the pictures yet!  It was hard not to take any today!  :^(

Day 6 (Sat Feb 12th) - Dnepro - Visit Orphanage

Yesterday we slept in and took it easy in the morning.  the orphanage director wanted us to visit sometime in the afternoon so we weren't in much of a hurry.  By the time we got down to the bus station and got a schedule we found we were too late.  By the time we took the bus out there we wouldn't have any time at all before we'd have to catch the last bus back to Dnepro.

Disappointed, we looked into taking a taxi and he was only 500 grevnas (about $40 or $50) so we decided that for that day it was worth it.

Holy cow though.  He was a very skilled driver (I'm not sure I"d call it good) but he had very interesting tactics.  Such things seem to be common here.  For example, he was literally all over the road, going very slow, to avoid any potholes.  I thought maybe he was afraid of fast speeds.  Ha!  Not so.  More on that in a second.

We got a bit farther from the bus station and he started going a little faster.  He would still pull into oncoming traffic to avoid potholes though.  I would have thought another vehicle hitting him would have done more damage to his car, but what do I know?

The other very fun thing is most of the way we drove down the middle of the two lane road.  Literally, the dividing line was going between our tires.  This was happening whether there were other cars coming or not.  It was especially interesting because the roads today were very snowy, not plowed, and we were going 120 km/hour at times.  We did stop twice to help people that had slid off the road.

He told Masha he was a champion in a car race. LOL  Watching him drive I can totally see that.  He was super crazy but I always felt he knew what he was doing and had the skill to do it.  That doesn't mean he didn't freak me out though!

The outside of the orphanage

The visit to the orphanage was awesome.  Ira was back to her usual self.  we got to see all the kids that had come over to America except for Yuri.  We actually saw very few boys.  Mostly because we were with girls, I think.

When we first got there we went into the same room we were in the day before.  Masha and I went to the bathroom and got to see where Little Masha was having "sleeping hour."  When we got back to the other room Little Ira was in there with Husband and Little One.  It was good to see her again.  Word soon got out that there were visitors and the kids started coming.  It was so good to see them all again!!!  I can't even think about having to say goodbye to them for good.

We sat and played with the kids.  Mostly Husband. LOL  He and Little Masha had a lot of fun together.  Olga did Masha's and Little One's hair.  Olga made Masha a little beaded spider.  We also gave the kids the gifts from their families.  It was fun just to visit and watch the kids interact.  A good day. :^)

Day 5 (Fri Feb 11th) - Dnepro - Met with Ira

 We arrived in Dnepro right on time.  Needing to go again we went at the train station.  We were told that is would be so much money, but it would be worth it because the free bathrooms weren't good.  I'd really hate to see the free bathrooms.  We paid to get in and they were, or course, the regular squat kind.  Little One did fairly well, thanks to our "Go Girl." LOL  I'll explain if anyone cares, but not here. :^)

From there we drove in two cars to the village.  Masha and Husband in one and Lane, Little One and I in the other.  It took awhile and LIttle One and I fell asleep.

We had to go visit the inspector first for Lana to submit the documents.  After about 45 minutes or so she came out with two women and we all went to a cafe for something to eat.  It was a little hole in the wall place and since heat is expensive they don't always turn it on.  We had also sat in the car without it running while we waited for Lane so I was freezing.  Little One was fine though, thanks to the wonderful things Mom made her before we left.  The food wasn't very good so luckily she and I had eaten some snacks while we had been in the car waiting.

Once we finished up there we went to the orphanage.  I was nervous.  Ira had been told we were coming and hadn't gone to school so she could be there when we got there.  I had hoped to film our first meeting with her but decided not to.  I guess she was still talking about not wanting to leave her friends so I wasn't sure just how excited she would be to see us.

First, we met with the director.  She seemed very nice.  We are the very first international adoption to happen out of this orphanage.  We went over some information about Ira but it was very little.  Then we were able to meet her.  We headed into a large room but she came from the other direction so we actually met her more in the hall. LOL  She seemed happy to see us but was still reserved.  She smiled and gave us hugs, but it wasn't exactly jumping for joy.  Almost like she was saying, "I'm happy to see you but now I have a hard decision to make.

Without going into details on here, being a public blog and all, I will just say that she had a hard time with the decision.  I can understand completely.  I moved around a lot and had to leave friends behind.  I still had a family though and with her, her friends ARE her family.  In the end, the decision was yes.  She wants to come with us.  I was a little worried she might change her mind a few times in the next few days, but I now don't think she will.

Some art work made by the kids

 After we visit for a bit we drove back to Dnepro where we went to the notary to sign something.  There really isn't much in the way of paperwork to do until Monday so we will see.  Lana thinks it might be a little bit longer to do it all because this is the first international adoption, but we are hopeful it will happen quickly.

The notary's office

Can you see why I was missing Kiev??

We also decided to stay in Dnepro while we are here and just travel to the village.  We got an apartment and paid for a week.  And, last but not least...  Notice that they are both wearing their big/little sister necklaces and that Ira has on the sweater Mom and Dad sent her. :^)

Our girls. :^)

I took a bunch of pictures today that I hope to blog tomorrow.  The other hosting families will be happy to see them, especially since their kids are in them! :^)  Since it's 1:30am though I'm going to bed.  We have to be up "early" so we can get to the orphanage at a decent hour.  Goodnight/morning/afternoon everyone!

Day 4 (Thurs Feb 10th) - Kiev

Our last day in Kiev we didn't get a lot done, as far as sight seeing goes.  It was still a good day though.  We slept in and actually slept very well.  Our phone woke us up at 10:30am and it was the mission president's wife.  That was really nice to talk to her a bit.  Well, Husband did since he answered the phone.

We unpacked everything and repacked so that we could find things.  We did a great job (we as in Husband and Mom) of packing so that we'd have a little of everything if some of the luggage got lost that we were having trouble finding things. :^)

At noon Cook's brought their stuff over to our apartment in order to check out of theirs.  We only had to pay for half a day, but that way we could split the half day between the two of us.  Then we took off to do a little sight seeing before we had to be at the SDA to pick up our referral letters (sometime between 4 and 5pm.)

We tried to go see St. Sofia's and to climb the bell tower to see a view of the city.

St. Sofia's bell tower

St. Michael's down the street

However, it was the wrong day of the week. LOL  We will try again when we are back in Kiev.

As you can see, we went on the only day it was closed.  Thursday.

Instead, we went back down the street to climb the bell tower and see the museum at St. Michael's.  While Little One got bored easily, of course, I quite enjoyed seeing the stuff.  The lady in there told us all kinds of information (though Natasha) and legends and such.  I LOVE American history, but we only have a few hundred years worth of it.  THIS was something totally different.  And even though I knew that already in my head, it was another thing to be standing where all these things happened so many, many years ago.  I'm afraid this is only making my love of traveling deepen.  Drat.  And I thought I'd be happy to just see all (and I mean all) of the sights our country has to offer.  Apparently not so. :^)

A very large bell in the tower

The bells in the tower at St. Michael's

St. Sofia's from the tower at St. Michael's

View from the bell tower

St. Michael's from the bell tower

Another view

The wishing well at St. Michael's

After that we were quite cold so we stopped off at our favorite place to eat, a Pizza cafe.  I'll have to actually catch the name of it! LOL

Very yummy strawberry "pancakes"

"Hot chocolate"  It was really just melted chocolate.  VERY good.

Cocoa - This was very good as well

Then it was time to head to the SDA to pick up our letters.  The same cute psychologist met us and had us sign something again.  I asked her if I could take a picture with her, but she said she wasn't photogenic.  Ha!  Not so, but still.  We also walked along Souvenir Street a bit and I finally saw some things I would like.  Wendy had talked about a beautiful chess set, but wow!  I think I will pick one up on our way home.  A few other little treasures as well.

We have our referral letter!

This is the door to the SDA office

St Andrew's which is right by the SDA office.  It is being worked on though.

I also took some pictures of our apartment.  They aren't in the order I'd like, but it's as good as it's going to get right now as it's not being very friendly.

Living room

Living room

The kitchen

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bathroom (the washing machine was in Italian...interesting)

Bathroom

We were a little worried when we walked down the halls.  Holy cow!  Of course, that wasn't anything like where we are in Dnepro right now, but still.  Luckily they were much nicer on the inside.

View once inside from the outside door

At the top of the stairs

The view of our hall, our apartment is on the left

Other view in the hallway - our's is on the right this time

Our apartment door

We ate dinner at the food court in the underground mall again.  This time I had chicken Kiev and roasted potatoes.  VERY yummy!

My chicken Kiev and roasted potatoes

We got to the train station (thank you, Oleg!) and met Lana.  We left right on time, at 11:12pm.  The three of us and Masha shared this compartment and Lana had a bed in the next one over.  I actually quite enjoyed it.  Natasha had told us to go to the bathroom on the train if we needed to because they lock them 30 mins before and after stopping at a city. They do this for sanitary reasons because when you flush it goes onto the tracks.  In an effort to avoid going to the bathroom on the train at all I tried to just go to sleep (ignoring Natasha's advice) and forget about it.  Well, at 1:45am I finally gave up and went to go, only to feel us stopping.  I wasn't sure I could wait 30 more minutes, especially when we stayed wherever it was for longer than usual, but I didn't have a choice.  I ended up just fine though and was able to sleep much better after that.  I learned my lesson. :^)

On the train!