Update

Happy Birthday to my mother!

If anyone has any news that would confirm the existence of our children could you please report it to CNN. We watch it -- and its innumerable reruns--until our eyeballs pop out. We have reason to believe that they have disappeared from the face of the earth due to total silence from our Idaho homefront. :) :) :)

Let's see, where was I in the saga of our Ukrainian adoption? Sorry to say I was such a dead-head on Saturday that we didn't make it to the orphanage. Good grief! All I wanted to do was sleep. Finally at a horrible hour that I don't have the face to admit online, I dug myself out of bed and we eventually headed out to walk and eat. We ended up back at the Potato House where I again enjoyed the baked potato with a cheesy broccoli sauce. I tried a different salad this time and was surprised to find that what I'd thought was pieces of tomato was actually raw fish. This reminds me of the surprise a friend of ours had when they thought a dessert had big chunks of chocolate in the bottom--they turned out to be prunes!

Sunday was a great day. First, we went to church and it was neat to see familiar faces. This is an international church and they had a large group visiting from San Diego, California that did a song, drama, and gave a couple testimonies. If I understood it right, they are going to be working in orphanages in other regions of Ukraine in the upcoming days. The regular pastor was out of town but I really appreciated what the speaker had to say: at New Year's we tend to think of making resolutions and making huge decisions that are going to have a major change in our lives. But he was pointing out that life is really made up of lots and lots of little decisions whether we are going to obey or disobey God. After service I got talking to a lady named Carol who is with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). She is in her 60's and she and her husband Joseph have moved to Ukraine to work with orphans in some yet-to-be-determined way. Another friend, John, is here in Kiev from Egypt studying Russian before going to medical school. We stood aroud chatting for quite awhile before getting on the bus and metro.

At about 4:45 Nastya and Alexi picked us up to go to their American friends' house for a belated traditional Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, gravy or sour cream, mixed vegetables, pumpkin pie and cheesecake.

I think about 7:30 Alexi drove us to the Metro which we rode clear across town and were met by our new friend, Tania. She welcomed us to her home where we spent a continued, delightful evening with 3 adorable little boys with Down Syndrome and their brave and courageous parents who have chosen to keep their children at home and are working hard to provide them with the educational opportunities they deserve. It was so exciting to see their devotion to their children, to hear their concern for the children with Down syndrome in orphanages here in Ukraine, to hear their desire to see doctors here be better-educated about the great potential of children with DS, to observe their excitement that many people in the United States are interested in adopting children with DS. It was just a wonderful time for me. I really cannot believe that we had such an amazing opportunity. If you as a reader of this blog are a praying person, PLEASE pray for these amazing people.



Monday morning we met Nastya and her little daughter at the Metro and rode to a stop near the orphanage. Wow! the price of metro tokens there and back sure beats the cost of hiring a driver the last time we were here (little over a dollar vs. about $40) We met again with the director and Nastya let him know about our court situation and that we will be going back to the States for now (so he doesn't think we've just abandoned Steven) He was very gracious. Kevin let him know that we know other people who are interested in adoption and the director said that the kids here are registered with the SDA.

Kevin always brought his bag with him to visits and the little boys were always very interested to see what he might have inside. If the bag was left unattended, little hands would soon be discovering the contents for themselves :)

This is the tree in Steven's play area. The tinsel and ornaments were having a very difficult time staying in place.Steven and one of his roommates. I think it is so cool that the orphanage is decorated for the holidays.

Steven was showing us his bed. I still don't know whether his is the one behind him or in front of him.


Then on to visit with Steven. Kevin said that when Steven saw him he smiled and motioned for him to come in and pulled out a chair for him to sit in. That part of the visit was good but there was a lot about it that was pretty difficult to be honest. Maybe Steven was just showing off, maybe he was over-whelmed, maybe he was just pushing his limits but he was definitely behaving in a pretty wild and defiant manner. Actually the whole crew was pretty wild. (Please know, however, that there are some very cute little boys here!!) I know our presence upset their usual schedule and that there was only one worker with them, rather than the usual two.