pics of Orphanage

bedrooms, 6 to a room.
Bathroom. We are not sure how the showers work because the boys have had to learn how to shower like Americans. There is not a need to hide any plumbing here which would make being a plumber a breeze.

The ride that made Dave and I sick!
Tatiana and the huge cake

a broom made of rose branches Cute huh?

What day is it anyway? Oh yeah Tuesday

On Tuesday we picked the boys up and Oleg was back to normal. I think his cute teacher had a little talk with him. I don't think that he pouted the whole day. We took a taxi to the park and they rode all the rides. I crocheted little bracelets to give the girls at the orphanage. It is amazing what it doesn't take to delight them. They had the mayor's celebration and cut a huge cake and gave it to all the kids. (it is an annual celebration for the children on June 1) I will post pictures of the cake and the asst mayor who came to Utah on the hosting program.

We then headed back to our side of the river and Ty and the boys went to a movie (Dave and I passed since it was in Ukrainian.) we also needed to lay down because the ride with the boats had made us both sick. The boys loved it but I felt pregnant again.

We cooked our frozen pizza and played memory and with legos and then Dave and Tyler took the boys out on the playground in our little broken down apt area. I guess Dave is starting to lose it because he started running around and playing like a kid. An old man and old lady started yelling at them to stop playing on the toys because they would break them and Dave just motioned for them to come and play too. The lady went in her house and closed her window. Oh well, you gotta find your joy somewhere.

I made potato salad, stir fried veggies and hot dogs for dinner. Oleg ate all the hot dogs he could get and then said he was too full for the other stuff. Then he saw that there were more hot dogs and was suddenly hungry again. Crazy. Dave served us ice cream and we were all joking about English words. The boys started calling us names and we laughed and laughed. Oleg said "Ice cream, I love you" Vitaly's first long phrase was "Mama is Pig, Oh my Goodness!" We died laughing on that one. (good thing I was in a good mood huh?) He did upgrade it later to "Mama is pig, I like, Oh my goodness!" but it was a crazy conversation. On that note: I don't know if I have gained weight or lost on this trip. There is not a scale to be found. I know that I have lost ALL the muscle that I ever had and so I will be back on the elliptical when we get home. Wouldn't want to be a pig..oh my goodness. BTW. I did eat much less ice cream than the other people in the fam.

I would love to meet Christine when you come to Ukraine if possible. We will probably be in Kiev finishing up when you get here. I also would love to know when the Mechams and the Moores are coming.

One more day till court HOORAY!

All is well

a TIny little gripe

Everything here is sticky!!! The gum in my purse is all melted and gross and the candy we bought is all soggy. When you open the wrapper you are a sticky mess. My hair flops every day within 5 minutes. I thought about getting a perm but then thought with the weird hair that I have seen here that could be something I would likely regret. We use the hair dryer to dry our clothes the "rest of the way" and never feel dry. We miss our desert climate.

more pictures

Ty and cute Sasha that I keep talking about. This is one sharp kid. He reminds me a lot of my nephew Jared Moon.

Christina helping to clean the carpet. They spray it with water and then push out the water with these wooden things they also use to put a rag around and mop the floor.

Sorry this is on it's side. This was the meal Irina did for us with Oksana in the background.
This is cute Lira writing to tyler in the sand/dirt "you are tyler, I am Lira" and then a heart.
Oleg and the cake (torte) Sonya gave him to celebrate the court. This was at the mall right before the pouting fest.

More about Monday

We discovered the Mall and then went back to get ready for the celebration following the Corbett's court. The water was turned off in our apt. (it was the day before too) and so I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to shower before the dinner. But at the last moment it came back on and so I really thought that was a blessing. We feel so dirty here anyway but a long sweaty walk plus the regular dirt is not a good feeling.

The Corbetts court went well (they said it was a little scary at times) but they sailed through and had a successful court. It looks like they will get to take Igor (Ian) full time and even probably get Andre out of the hospital and keep him.

While we waited we did some checking to see if some of our favorite kids are available for adoption for other families. We found out that Lena is already 16 (as of May 23) and so she can not be adopted to the US now. Sasha (the boy we keep talking about) is available and someone HAS to adopt him. He really wants to go the US.

The luncheon was delicious. It was prepared by Irina (the director who came to the US.) She made Borscht, little garlic rolls, Verneke (no idea how you spell it) which were little pockets of dough with mashed potatoes inside that had been boiled. We also had strawberries from her garden and a salad with cucumbers and green onions. For a drink we had compote which is dried fruit soaked in hot water and served cool. I will post a picture of the lovely table soon.

Vitaly had to go and talk to the director and got put in prison at the orphanage (an isolation room with 3 boys) for staying out too late one night. They let him leave with us and then he was right back in that locked room when we took him back. It was a room full of windows and they looked like caged tigers in there.

After the dinner we took the boys and the Corbetts to the Mall and the boys all played the game stuff and we went grocery shopping Sonya was impressed. She said that maybe she will take a taxi over here every 3 days to shop.

We had a little scare with Oleg. He had a tantrum at the mall for some reason and on the way home Vitaly bawled him out for pouting. I am not sure what he said but I imagine it was something like "just knock it off Oleg, this is getting you nowhere and I am sick of your pouting) That made Oleg cry and so when we took him back crying, guess who was right at the front door? Yes, Alina. She whisked him off and we were nervous that she was telling him in his moment of sadness "See I told you that family is mean and bad etc etc." I didn't sleep very well but when we picked him up this morning he was back to normal and had a fun day so far with everyone.

I don't know when we will really feel like this adoption is a done deal. After court can they still change their mind? I will breathe a sigh of relief when we step on American soil for many, many reasons.

All is well in Dnepro