Last Night At The Orphanage!

Today the boys asked a lot of questions about what we will do tomorrow. This is their last night at the orphanage! They seem excited to go with us tomorrow. Tatiana, our facilitor, said I couldn't take Sav and Drew tomorrow so they will spend the day at Rob and Denyce's(missionaries).George has never had banana bread so Savannah will make him her killer banana bread over at Denyce's. Our day will start early, 7:00am- that's early for us here in Ukraine. First, we will head to Zolochev(orphanage town) for some papers and then to Dgergachev where one of the boys was born and then to Kharikiv where the other was born for birth certificates. The new birth certificates will have Derek and I as their parents! Isn't that crazy? Then back to Zolochev to pick up boys and take them to apply for passports and get their photos!!! This will be an all day adventure traveling at least 150 mies. Today we took them their own outfits to wear tomorrow,as I have said before,the clothes they wear are owned by the orphanage. Also, we brought 2 backpacks with us, one of them we bring with us everyday. I told Viktor he could have the pack we have brought everyday, it is Drew's pack and it looks brand new,( 2 yrs old LL BEAN lizards all over it)he has taken ownership of the pack& that is goodasthey haven't seemed to respect gifts very much. I told them we would be doing some fun things as we wait for the passports to be processed(one week), like going to McDonald's. They have only been once when they were in the orphanage in Kharkiv last year. So today they said, "Can we go to McDonald's tomorrow?" Of course!! I can't think of a time when I will be this happy to take my children to McDonald's!! There are many things to do here and George said he will be glad to help us. So the plan is for him to tutor in our flat in the mornings for one hour and then off to the park etc. Here in Kharkiv they have a Dolphinariam that's what they call it. It is a show with Dolphins and also they have a large zoo.

Peter has pink eye or an infection that has made his eye all red and puffy. They are treating it somehow, but it has gotten worse. I told George that he needs antibiotics and he said they wouldn't give this to him until a last resort. I can't wait for Dr. Crawford to take a look at him. When we arrived today Viktor had caught a mouse and Savannah about lost it!!! She hates mice! I told Viktor what the mice do to the cherry trees during the winter, how they eat the roots and kill the trees. I explained that we have to spread poison to help control the mice population and protect the trees. Viktor said I will help Derek spread the poison. These are all signs of him bonding to our family. Both the boys sit close to me and they seem more and more like they fit right in with us. Viktor loves Savannah, he is always enticing her to chase him.

All I can say is the Lord is so good to His people and we are so blessed to be able to bring these boys home with us as new members of our family!!

Thank you for your concern and prayers for us!!

Blessings,

Lana