Day 52- The Whirlwind Tuesday, Nov. 8

Wow, it really happened. The morning was so uneventful with even some tough news to take, but then at the last moment, everything fell into place. I knew it would be a while before we knew if the passports were ready, so I did not call Ksenia in the morning. I did have a secret hope that we might still be able to get to Kiev that evening, but was not sure it could happen. I called Ksenia around lunch time and she told me that even if we did get the passports that afternoon it was likely too late to be able to have the paperwork ready for the Embassy by the next day and since Friday was a holiday the Embassy would be closed and it may take until Monday for us to get finished and be able to leave on Tuesday. But the good news was that we could go to the bank and withdraw Sergei's money at noon on Wednesday.
After I hung up the phone with her, I cried. I tried to explain to the boys that it may not be until next week that we could go home and I tried to hold it together for their sake, but I did not do too well. I know that it was just a few days longer than we had anticipated, but it just seemed like a huge frustration to be stuck in Kiev from Wednesday until Tuesday with only a few hours of necessary paperwork keeping us from coming home.
Yarik had already packed his stuff and was ready to go. I tried to get my things organized, because I knew once it was time, we would have to hurry. The other thing we had to do that day was officially sign Yarik out of his trade school. Originally, Ksenia thought she could just bring the paperwork for me to sign at the apartment, but the social worker wanted us to come in person.
Just after 2:30pm, Ksenia called back. She said, "Get packed, you go to Kiev tonight." I was in shock a bit. She said that everything was worked out and they got our paperwork rushed to Kiev to get an appointment for the next morning. We had to go to the school, get the paperwork signed, she had to pick up the boys passports at 5pm once Yarik's clearance arrived from Kiev. We would meet the landlord to get our deposit back and then Ksenia would come back to pick us up and put us on the bus that would leave at 6pm, for a five our ride to Kiev.
It took quite a while to get the right people in the room at Yarik's school to sign the paperwork. We had time, but there was still stuff I needed to do at the apartment before the landlord arrived. I tried to be patient. We finally got all the papers in order and drove the inspector back to her office. Ksenia got us back to our apartment and Yarik and I went in to finish getting things ready to leave. I heated up some left over borscht that I had made a few days ago and tried to clean out everything from the refrigerator and cupboards. Fortunately, Vitali had come over after he was done with school and I loaded him up with things we did not want to take with us. He took the bags of things we didn't need and went to his sisters. He said he would be back to say good-bye before we left. I was a little worried, because it was getting close to 6, and I knew Ksenia would be back to pick us up soon. The landlord came with our deposit money. I had asked him for a receipt, but he forgot it. We called Ksenia and she spoke to him and made arrangements for us to meet him down the block after she picked us up.
In the meantime, we ate dinner, cleaned up the kitchen and finished packing everything into our suitcases. Katya and Luba came by to say their good-byes. We had everything ready when Ksenia came to pick us up. It took a while for Sergei to get his shoes on and to get our suitcases loaded into the elevator. But we made it down to her car and gave final hugs to the girls. Vitali had not made it back to the apartment. But Yarik called him and let him know we were on our way to the bus.
We parked on the street where the landlord said he would meet us. I had to give him the key and get our receipt. He took far too long and was making me nervous. I did not want to miss our bus, or get stuck with bad seats if we had to get on last. Finally he came and I handed over the key and he gave me the receipt. Then we drove to the bus which was not far, just down the street from McDonalds. Vitali was there waiting for us. He had a gift from his sister for me. We loaded our suitcases into the storage area in the back. I was grateful that we did not have to keep them up front with us. We gave Vitali hugs and said our good-byes to him and Ksenia. We were not sure if we would try to come back on Friday to go the bank, since we could not go Wednesday as planned. So we thought we might see Ksenia one more time. Ksenia gave us the paperwork for Nastya. She had not been able to pick up the passports, because even though she had Yarik's police clearances, the head of the office was not there, and no one else had the authority to give them to her. So Lord, willing, she would get them in the morning, fax copies to the Embassy and medical clinic and we could at least get started with what we needed in Kiev.
We boarded the bus and Yarik choose the back row. The bus was not full, so we had all five seats across the back for the three of us. It was already dark, so the boys fell asleep quickly. As we continued on and some people got off the bus, the seats in front of us opened up as well. Yarik went to the two open seats to stretch out a bit. I moved over and let Sergei stretch out and sleep on my leg. It was a pretty bumpy ride, but by far not the most uncomfortable. I could not really sleep, even though I tried. Sergei kept wondering what time it was and how much longer until we got to Kiev. He seemed pretty excited to get to Kiev.
After what seemed like forever, we started seeing signs of city. Then we saw the big sign of Welcome to Kiev. By then Sergei had woken up and was taking in the scenery. He pointed things out for me to look at right and left. I was glad that he hadn't gotten travel sick. As we got nearer to the bus station, I heard from Alex who would be picking us up. I told him that we were in Kiev, but I did not know how much longer to the bus station. He asked me to call when we pulled in. Once I saw the station I recognized it from past arrivals. I called him and he said that he also saw us pulling in. It was around 11pm. He took us to the apartment and met the landlady who had a key for us. We were staying in the same apartment that our NHFC team had stayed in the first few days in Kiev back in February. It was good to have a little familiarity. We also were across the hall from Abbey Yoder and her new son who would be flying to Pennsylvania the next day. I was hoping to see her before we left for our Embassy appointment.
It took us a little while to settle in. The boys scavenged some food that was left behind by previous tenants. I just wanted to get to sleep. We had to be ready for Nastya to pick us up by 8:30am, so we all needed to get some sleep! They did settle and fell asleep pretty quickly. Ready for a big day the next morning!!

Day 51 - Waiting & Good byes - Monday, Nov. 7

Today I was really hoping to hear from Ksenia that we could go to the bank and withdraw Sergei's money. I did not hear from her all morning, so just before lunch I called. She had not been able to get through to anyone at the bank. She said she would keep trying. I was disappointed, but not surprised. We did not have much to do. Yarik and I decided to go downtown to buy a few more gifts. His friend, Sasha Z. met us as we left the building. We took a bus downtown. Got off past the stop we should have and had to walk part way back. We checked out the open air market to see if they had any souvenirs available today, but evidently Mondays most of the regular vendors are not open and they have kind of like a giant yard sale with lots of second hand clothes.
Yarik had wanted to buy a soccer book for one of his friends, so we went to the bookstore. After that, Yarik had expressed interest in a haircut, which Darren and I had suggested weeks ago. So we went to the salon where I had gotten my hair done. Sasha decided to get his cut as well. There was no one at the salon when we arrived so the boys sat and waited. I knew there was another shop with souvenirs that Anika had showed me that was not far from the Salon, so while the boys waited, I went and got a few gifts for my family.
Soon after I got back, several girls went into the salon. They closed the door and had not said anything to us, so we were not sure if they were back open, or still on a break. As time passed, I figured they should soon be ready, so I told Yarik to ask how soon he could get his hair cut. He was too shy, but Sasha poked his head in and they said to come right in. There were two of them, so both boys started at the same time. Meanwhile, Vitalli was also on his way and when Yarik was about half way done, he arrived and decided to get a trim as well. Yarik finished first and Vitalli took his spot. When all three were done, I paid and we walked back to the apartment. Vitalli showered first and then later Yarik. They all had little pieces of hair still on them. The open arms gals had invited us for dinner that evening, so we were looking forward to joining them.
This morning I had woken up with almost no voice. Sergei thought it was quite amusing. It did not hurt, but I sounded awful. Since we had some time before we had to leave, I tried to take a nap. I texted Anika to find out about the bus number and texted Ksenia to see if she could check on passports. I got the bus numbers and then a response from Ksenia...no passports yet.

Chelsea with a couple of the guys they minister to

After a short rest, I wanted to sort through the things that I did not want to take back to America. I packed up one bag of things to give to the Open Arms gals and tried to organize the rest of my stuff. If we do get to leave the next day, I want to be ready! Once I was done, it was time to catch the bus. Sergei did not want to go. I told him he had to go and we did not have to stay long. The bus was super crowded when we boarded. It did thin out closer to their stop so we got seats for the last few minutes. Sergei had not been there before, so he was curious about where we were going.

Anika and Melissa cooking

We got to their building and took the elevator. The girls welcomed us and the place smelled yummy with dinner cooking. We exchanged greetings and I gave them the bag of goodies. They were thankful for the contributions to their apartment. It was nice to visit and talk about lots of different things. The new Visa rules meant they could not stay in country as long as they used to be able to. They would have to return to America in another month and they hoped to return after Christmas, but it depended on when they could get Visas again.

Our soup! Yum....and mayo for the Ukrainians to add

We had some chicken noodle soup and garlic bread. Then the boys started playing on the Wii. The girls had put in MarioCart and it was so fun to watch Sergei's face as he raced. Both boys really got into the game. We had been there about an hour and a half, so I asked Sergei if he was ready to leave. By then he realized it was not so bad and wanted to stay. Next they put in Just Dance 2 and the boys took turns challenging different people. Sergei played several rounds in a row and had sweat all over his face. They really got into it. We had fun, but they were getting tired, so we said our good-byes and went back home.
After we got off the bus near our apartment, we went in to the grocery store to get some eggs. They have been eating them by the half dozen and we were out again. As we passed the fruit, the boys wanted some plums and kiwis, so we got those, the eggs, some yogurt and then some chocolate.

Playing Wii

Back at the apartment we ate some fruit, Yarik wanted to Skype with Katya's older sister who is studying in America for awhile. Sergei and I watched some soccer on TV, while Yarik talked to his friend. After Yarik was done, I chatted with Darren and then called his cell phone as he and TJ were driving home from visiting Pappy. I was wiped out from being a little sick and from a busy day. Sergei had already fallen asleep and Yarik was ready to go to sleep as well. So we called it a day once more. Praying for good news the next day.

Day 50 - Day of Thanks - Sunday, Nov. 6

We all got up in time to shower, eat and get dressed for church. The sky was so blue, but the wind was cold. We did not know what bus would take us to church, so we walked. The wind nipped at our noses! Yarik complained. I said we needed the exercise and fresh air. It was cold, though. Water in puddles was frozen...but we walked briskly and made it to church before the service started this week. They were celebrating the Day of Thanks, so had a special program. They had special music by some teens and then a cute presentation by the elementary age kids and some singing by them as well. It was so very cute. One of the toddlers got up and danced while the other kids were singing. He stole the spotlight for a while.
 After the service, they had plates of food set out and coerced us to eat. During the service, there was a man and wife team video taping parts of the service. We found out that they were making a video for Russian Christian television. It was also Oprhan Sunday and they had played a clip about orphans. I wondered how the boys felt about it. I was glad that I felt the tug of God and had chosen these two and they were no longer orphans. It was a bit weird for the other kids who had come to church with the Open Arms team, who had not been chosen and were out living on their own. We were not sure how they perceived it. Anyway, when the husband wife team found out that I had just adopted our two boys, they wanted to do an interview with us. At first I thought it was going to be Annie, one of the Open Arms gals, and I. But after they interviewed me, they asked to interview the boys. Sergei had already gone outside, so Annie went to get him. They interviewed Yarik first and then Sergei, with my arm around him. They said it might be used all over Russia and Ukraine. Hmm, interesting thought, that maybe God had us stay a little longer to be part of this video?!?

Mom posing for Sergei with Yarik behind me

Anyway, after our interview, we left with the team. They were heading for pizza and planned to catch the bus downtown. We got on the bus with them, thinking we would join them for pizza, but when the bus turned toward our apartment instead of downtown, we got off at our stop. Sergei just wanted to go home, so I was going to send Yarik with the girls, but he decided he wanted to go home with us as well. So they went their way and we went ours.

Sergei putting stickers in my hair!

We had a relaxing afternoon at the apartment. Later in the day, Yarik got to skype with two of his friends from the west coast. They are so excited for him to be coming to America. After Yarik was done, I wanted to try to talk to my brother who had just gotten back from several months of AF duty in Turkey. I tried calling him with our google voice, but no one answered. I called my mom to ask for his cell number. She was on the other line with him, so I told her to have him get on Skype. We got to Skype for quite a while. It was nice to catch up with him again. We are disappointed that they will not be able to get back to PA to visit for a long time. I am glad we at least got to see them in Colorado this past summer.
By the time I was done talking to my brother, it was after mid-night, so I went to sleep. The boys did too.

Day 49- Outing Downtown -Saturday, Nov. 5

Yarik's teacher's daughter had sent me a FB message that she would like to meet us again today. Our last planned meeting was cancelled because she had gotten sick. So today's plan was to meet at 2pm at McDonald's and then go for Pizza. We had a pretty lazy morning and everyone enjoyed sleeping in. We used the internet a bit and then got ready to go.
We met the girls at McDonald's. It ended up being Natalia and two of her friends. This time, her mother was sick. One of her friends was studying English and had been to America twice on exchange programs, so she acted as translator for us. We walked to the Underground Pizza Restaurant and ordered 2 pizzas. I thought we would need more, but the girls insisted that they were large pizzas. So far I have not really seen a true American size Large pizza, but they placed the order. When they came, the three boys had theirs gone in a few minutes and I sent Yarik to order another one for them. I don't think the girls realized how much boys eat.
After eating, we went to the art museum which was closing in less than 30 minutes, but we walked through the main exhibit and saw some lovely artwork. Most from the 1700's and 1800's. It was mostly Renaissance style with a few impressionist type works. The girls talked about Ukrainian history and politics. They were frustrated by their current president and his lack of knowledge of the Ukrainian language. It is sad that their president does not even know his own country's native language. While most Ukrainians know Russian, there is still a pride in their own language and the people want to see their language respected and used. And just like in America, their president's bloopers are on YouTube for everyone to check out.
Near the art museum was the theater. The girls were excited for the premier of Swan Lake by the St. Petersburg ballet company. They asked if I would want to go. Unfortunately, it does not open until the 11th, by which time I am hoping I will no longer be in Sumy. It would have been an amazing opportunity to go to see the ballet. One that I am sure Darren would not have minded me going to on my own. But Lord willing, we will be either in America or on our way.
While we were checking out the theater, Sergei spied a guy on his skateboard riding on the front of the theater steps. He went back out to watch him while waiting for us. After checking out the theater, the girls were ready to part company. They had mentioned trying to go to see a film together on Monday, but I was not sure what Monday would hold. It would be fun for the boys to go to a movie in their own language before we leave, but not sure what will happen.

All three about to crash

Sergei making the turn

On our walk back, the boys wanted to go through the park, where they had some amusement rides and other interesting things to see. We walked through and saw the entrance to the soccer stadium. Then a little farther and  we came to the bumper cars. There was a father and daughter driving around and the boys wanted to give it a try also. When the others finished, the three boys, Yarik, Sergei and Vitalli payed their grivna and each chose a car. It took them some time to figure out how to maneuver the cars, but once they got the hang of it, they had fun circling and crashing. I got some photos, but I should have tried to take a video. It was so funny watching them. I am glad they had fun. It was getting dark, but they wanted to see if the Ferris Wheel was running, so we walked the rest of the way to the back of the park. It was closed, so we turned around and headed back out. There was a lady there, with some grilled shush-kabobs.  We got one and shared it. It was really good. Darren would have loved it. After that we walked the rest of the way out of the park and back to the apartment.

Vitalli rounding the corner

Yarik stuck in the corner

Back home we took advantage of the Saturday with friends being at home and got to make some calls and chat online. I talked to Bekka a little and IM'ed with Darren as he was camping with the scouts. Yarik stayed up a while talking to friends, but Sergei and I went to sleep fairly early so we could get up for church the next day.

Day 48 - Party at the Rhoads - Friday, Nov. 4

Wahoo, a day to sleep in. Ksenia was going to her sisters for the weekend to celebrate Nastia's birthday. All of our paperwork was done that we could do at the present. Now we just had to hang around and wait. We had wanted to get Vitalli a warm coat for the winter, so we made plans with him to go to the open air market. He was hoping his teacher would let him out of school early to meet us, but he said no. So instead of meeting him at 11, we met him closer to 1pm.
At the open air market we walked around. He tried on a couple different coats and finally decided on a black one. The first one he tried was a more light weight jacket. I am glad he did not choose that one, because it would not be very warm for the cold winters here. We also found a scarf for Yarik and one for me that matched my jacket.
The temperatures are definitely dropping! It was a brisk day to be out walking about, but I am glad that the weather is still nice enough to be outside. Yarik wanted to go to McDonald's so we stopped there for a quick bite to eat. Then we went to the EcoMarket to get a few groceries.
Back at the apartment the boys wanted to go online to check out facebook and try to chat with friends. I started reading a book about Corrie ten Boon, "Tramp for the Lord" it was a really interesting book about how she was faithful to follow God's leading and tell her story all over the world.

Yarik took this photo of Vitali, Mom, Alina, Sasha, Sergei and Katya

Yarik had invited several friends to come for dinner and I had invited Vitali's sister, so once back to the apartment, I started cooking dinner. Katya and Sasha arrived first, while Yarik and Vitali were on their way to get Alina. The boys also stopped and got some juice and water for dinner.
When they were all back, we had Thai chicken soup and sandwiches. Then cookies, tea and coffee for dessert. We had lots of fun. I had no idea what they were talking about most of the time, but they did try to include me now and then. We got out photos that I had sent to the boys so they could see our family and we were trying to find a picture of our house. I finally resorted to going to Frodo's page where there was the only photo of our house that I could find!

Sweet little Katya with Erica

Yarik and Sasha

Yarik, Vitali, Sasha, Katya, Erica, Alina and Sergei

After everyone left, Sergei watched some skate videos and Yarik and Vitali listened to music to go to sleep. Then I turned off the computer and the other two of us went to sleep as well.

Day 47 - Final Details - Thursday, Nov. 3

This morning we left for the orphanage for the last time. Ksenia picked up the boys and I and drove us to the orphanage. On the way, I realized that I had forgotten to bring the remainder of the cash donation. I guess it was a subconscious way of saying I did not really want to give her any more money. But I did plan to give a small amount yet, so I asked Ksenia if we could stop at an ATM to get some additional cash out. While we were in Oktyrka to stop at an ATM the director called wondering why we were not there yet. She had expected us at 9am, (it was 8:45am) and wanted to be ready for an inspection she had scheduled at 10am. We were only about 30 minutes from the orphanage, so we were not running that far behind. Ksenia was not worried, and I figured it could not take that long. We had already gotten everything that he wanted to bring with him and said good byes, now we just had to sign him out.
We got there and took about 5 minutes for me to sign about 6 copies of a couple documents and then we left again. We collected Sergei's file and found out that he had a significant amount of money in the bank that we could try to withdraw. The trouble was, we were not sure where the bank was or which bank had the money. We asked around town to find out where the bank was located. After several tries we finally found the bank. But the bank official was not there, so we had to try a branch in the next town. We were hoping we could withdraw the money there, but no such luck. We did get a phone number to arrange to make the withdraw later, but we would have to go back to the town near the orphanage on Monday and hope it would work out to get the money. It is a large enough amount to make it worth going the 2 hours back there, although it would have been really nice if we could have gotten it while we were already there!
So the town with the bank was also the town where we did the paperwork for Sergei's passport. I have felt like I was back in our military days where the motto was "hurry up and wait!" At the passport office, we sat and waited. Ksenia started filling out paperwork and soon the gentleman took the papers and began the process. It would take a while, so while Ksenia went to make more copies, the boys and I went to the little store and got some food for lunch. Yarik got pizza, Sergei and I ordered hot dogs....although it was not really appetizing. It was more like mush than a hot dog. I wished I had gotten the pizza. Oh well, the bread was good, so I ate most of the bread and left the mush.
Then we went back to the passport office to wait for the signatures. Before too long, the guy came back with the file and we were ready to go. We drove back to Sumy to the bigger passport office to turn in the paperwork for both boys to get their traveling passports. We are praying that nothing goes wrong and we will be able to pick them up on Tuesday, or even Monday if that is possible. It is supposed to take 3 working days, which supposedly include Saturday, so we are hoping for a miracle! Once we have the passports in hand, we can travel to Kiev and get their Visas and medical paperwork for our final approval to get home to America!

The passport office was not far from our apartment, so since we were done for the day, we walked back to the apartment. We walked past the soccer stadium. It was huge, I wish we could have seen a game there during our stay, but we never figured out when we could go. And now it was so cold, I was not sure I would want to sit out there and watch one.
Back at the apartment we had a quiet evening. We ate some dinner, and went online, watched some videos and got to sleep fairly early again after another long day.

Day 46 -Early morning wake up call! - Wednesday, Nov. 2

So this morning started really early! The alarm went off at 4:40am. I had gotten my shower the night before so I could sleep as long as possible. Before I woke Sergei, I got a text from Ksenia that she was running a little late. So I waited a little longer to wake him. After I got dressed and ready, I woke Sergei and got some food put in the backpack for later. I gave him a Dramamine and he ate some bread with ketchup. By the time he was ready Ksenia called that she was downstairs. She had a different driver, as well as our translator and herself that went with us to the region where Sergei was born. She had planned for a four hour drive and thought it may take us all day and we may not even return until 10pm. Because of this, I had left the keys for the apartment with Yarik, who would have to go to school that day.
Sergei and I slept on and off most of the way there. We actually arrived in the town in around 3 hours and the office we needed was still not open. Ksenia needed some copies, so we drove around looking for a place to make copies. Then we went to the office to get the new birth certificate and waited. Once they took Ksenia in to start the paperwork, we were warned that it could be another 3 or more hours until the birth certificate was ready. But, within 2 hours, they called us in and we received the new birth certificate with Sergei's new name and Darren and I listed as parents. Step one completed in record time. To do the next step we had to go to a different town and do the social security thing for Sergei. When we got there, there was only a short line and once Ksenia submitted the paperwork, he requested a few copies of our originals. There was a shop behind the office building where we could make copies, so we went in and made the requested copies. When we got back to the office building, there was a line of people waiting for the man we had started working with. We figured we would have to wait again, but instead he called to Ksenia and took the paperwork right away. Within a short amount of time we completed that task as well. So with those things done, we were ready to go back to Sumy where we had to sign some forms at the notary and we would be done for the day already! We dropped the translator off at her house and Ksenia was about to have the driver take Sergei and I to the apartment, but I reminded her that Yarik had our keys, so we would need to get him first.
So the driver took us to Ksenia's apartment, where she changed shoes and we took her car to Yarik's school to arrange for paperwork for him and pick him up. Yarik was more than happy to get out of school early. Especially since he had hoped his last day would have been the previous Friday. Ksenia had some paperwork to do downtown, so we parked downtown and she went to do the paperwork and the boys and I walked back to the apartment.

On the walk back home. It is a Sumy landmark.

The boys would not pose for me at the landmark.

Later we went over to Billa to get groceries to make dinner. I made some borscht and we had that for dinner. After dinner, Vitalli's sister Alena asked us to come to her apartment to visit. Sergei did not want to join us, so he stayed at the apartment. Yarik and I walked with Vitalli to his sister's. She made us tea and served some chocolate cake. We looked at photos and we met her roommate, Oksana and her little baby. He was such a cutie and looked just like his mom. It was nice of her to invite us. We said good-byes and walked back home.
The plans for the next day were to go out to the orphanage to officially sign Sergei out and then go start the paperwork for Sergei's passport. We did not have to leave nearly so early, but still had to be ready by 7:15am. With the early mornings, the boys were usually more than ready to get to sleep early. So we chatted with family at home and then turned in again to get a good night's sleep.

Day 45 - Paper chase - Tuesday Nov. 1

Ksenia was running late, so she picked us up a few minutes before 9am. Although, it seemed like it did not make much difference because, the places we went did not have the documents ready anyway. We walked around Sumy and then went to get the boys photos taken for their passports. Since the paperwork would not be ready for several hours, Ksenia took us back to the apartment and we waited not doing really much of anything. Then she called again just after 1pm and we went back out to get things done this time. We went to get the new birth certificate for Yarik. The look on his face was priceless. I wish I had my camera. His smile was from ear to ear when he saw the new name on the certificate. He was one very happy boy! Next we went back to the social security office to apply for the name change on his social security number. The office was not open yet, so we waited about 20 minutes til we could go in and get in line. That was a much longer wait, although, not too bad. After that, we went to the passport office and had to change the name on his domestic passport. Again there was a wait for that. Once we had that done, Ksenia took as back to the apartment. We were all hungry by then, since we had not eaten lunch before Ksenia picked us up the second time. There was a sushi place right by where she dropped us off near our apartment. I kind of joked that we should go for sushi, since Yarik does not like fish or rice, but both boys thought it was a good idea. I figured we had pretty good reason to celebrate, so we went in. They also served pizza, so Sergei and I chose some sushi to try and both boys also ordered a pizza. They brought the sushi first and Sergei really liked it. Then the pizzas came and the boys had a hard time finishing them. Even with Katya and I helping. Katya had arrived just after they brought the sushi and had planned to hang out with us at the apartment for a while. But they did finish the last pieces and we paid the bill and went back to the apartment.
The three kids visited while I called home and talked to my mom and then my sister. I also did a video chat with Darren who greeted Katya as well. It was good to catch up with them a little. I got to visit with Katya a little before she had to go back to school. Vitali had also come over, so Yarik and Vitali walked Katya back to downtown to catch her bus. Sergei played angry birds and Darren and I did our devotions over video chat.
When the boys got back we all got ready for bed. Sergei and I had to be out of the house by 5 am. Another melatonin helped Sergei fall asleep fast. I was so happy to be on the home stretch with our paperwork. Only a few more days of signing documents and we hope to soon have passports in hand to go to Kiev.

Day 44 - Saying Goodbyes - Monday, October 31

Once again we planned to go to the orphanage to bring gifts and say good-byes. We found out that the train had not been running on Saturday to the stop we needed, so it did not matter that we did not make it that day. But today, we were hoping that it would be running so we could go see their friends one last time. We tried to get out the door early and head down to the center to buy a pair of gloves for one of the kids. But when we got there the vendor where we bought Yarik's gloves was not open yet. We found another pair, but not what we really wanted. We were trying to find the right bus, but the number we needed never came so we decided to not chance it and we took a taxi. We got to the train station just in time to get our 3 tickets and walk to the platform as the train was pulling in. Today was far less crowded and we all had seats, though at first I had to sit a few rows away from the boys. After a few stops, the seats near me opened and the boys moved by me. I had my phone, so Sergei and I played angry birds while Yarik listened to his mp3.
Once we got to our stop, we did not see a taxi waiting, and Sergei wanted to walk so we took advantage of the beautiful day and walked to the orphanage. The kids would all still be in class, so there was no hurry to get there. We truly have had the most amazing weather during our time here. I think there was only one or two days when we had to walk in a drizzle. The days that it was nasty weather, we could either stay in or we were driven around. When we got to the town where the orphanage is located, Yarik wanted to take a gift to one of his teachers who was at home. So we went to meet her first. She liked her gift and agreed to give a second gift to another teacher who was in Sumy that day. We went to another home to give the third gift, but she was not home, so he signed his name on the package and left it there.

Kids opening their gifts

Next we stopped at the small store on the way back to the orphanage and bought some juice to go with the cookies and treats we had brought for the kids. Once we got to the orphanage, one of the older boys saw us out the window and knocked to get our attention. It was Vitaly who had been to America and his family had asked us to get him a phone. He was in the English class, so we gave him the phone and gave his English teacher her gift as well. We visited with the teacher and kids a bit.

Teacher, Svetlana with her flower

Then, Sergei went to his main classroom and gave out the gifts to the teacher and the kids. All of his roommates pretty much go together to all of their classes from what I can tell. So everyone was there. They all liked their gifts and were happy to show each other what Sergei had chosen for them. Next they had to leave for another class, so we went to some other teachers to give out gifts. Once we had all the gifts given, we went out to the sport field to play some soccer. I watched for a bit and then joined in a while. The boys wanted to go back to the store for a snack, so when the other kids left the field again, we wandered back to the store for some chips and juice.

Boris trying out his new goalie gloves

Sergei and Vitaly

After the snack, Sergei and a few others were back playing soccer again. They played for quite a while and then a couple boys wanted Sergei to go with them. He went and Yarik and I headed over to the sleeping building. Later Sergei joined back up with us and we found some friends and took more photos. Several times the boys wanted Sergei to go with them for a minute or two. It was good that he got the chance to say good bye. At one point he said he kind of felt like he did not want to go back to Sumy. I think the realization of leaving everything he has known for the last 8 years was hitting him a little bit. I was glad that he was feeling something. I know that in time it will hit him and I hope that if it happens a little at a time it will be easier for him to deal with it. He is still very happy to go to America and wants to go soon. Every other time we talked about it, he was happy to leave and seemed like he never wanted to look back.

Sergei one last time playing basketball with friends

For a short time nearly all the kids went to the dining hall. I had never seen them all go at the same time, so I am not sure what it was about. But we sat and talked a little bit. Soon though, the boys were back and told Sergei they were going to the gym to play basketball. Sergei wanted to go watch, so we all went with him. We did not have much time before we had to get the taxi  back to the train station, but we watched for a few minutes. Then one of the kids had to leave and they asked Sergei to take his place. Sergei got to play for about 10 minutes before we had to leave for the taxi. The guys gave one more quick good-bye and we left. I so wish more of those kids had families that could come for them, but that is not to be at the present time.
When we got to the train station, one of the boys who had been to the grad retreat was also there waiting to take the train to Sumy. We ended up with space in our compartment, so he came and sat with us. I still had a deck of cards in my backpack, so we played cards for nearly the whole trip back to Sumy. It sure made the time pass much more quickly. Once back to Sumy, the boys convinced me to take a taxi back to the apartment. I had him drop us at the grocery store so we could get some food for dinner.
 The evening was much of the same. We ate dinner, checked out facebook, tried to Skype with Sergei Spiker, but they had a death in the family, so it did not work out. I talked to Darren and soon got ready for bed. Ksenia had said that she would pick us up at 8:30am to start picking up documents. I gave Sergei a melatonin tablet which seemed to help him get to sleep much faster than usual.

Day 43 - Great Fellowship - Sunday, Oct. 30

We had the extra hour to sleep, but I woke up early anyway. I let the guys sleep a little longer, well, Sergei anyway. The other two were up on their own before too long. I wanted to work on our dinner preparations. I had bought lots of chicken and wanted to let it marinade while we were at church. So I got it out and cut it all into strips and put it in some oil, garlic and lime juice. Once the boys were ready for church, we headed out. We had not gone to church from the apartment, so we had to go downtown and walk from the direction we were used to going. It took more time than we anticipated and by the time we got there, they were already singing. Oh well, we joined the Open Arms team near the back and I tried to sing along. This week we had mostly slow songs, so I could almost read fast enough to sing a few words. I can always pick out the Jesus. I am learning some other words too, but still feel so inept at the language.
I had no clue what the message was about, but I was able to follow the verses as they were put up on the screen. Mostly from Peter and 1, 2 Corinthians...which sounded pretty close to the English pronunciations. At least the boys were paying attention and seemed to be getting the message. There was a guest speaker this week, one of the men who had been at the grad retreat. So it was nice that the boys were already familiar with him. Hopefully, it made the message seem more personal.
After service the gals planned to get a quick bite to eat, then run errands and come late afternoon to our place. So we took them up on the offer to grab some lunch. We walked a few blocks to a "Chicago Pizza" place. The girls ordered some pizzas for everyone. When they came, they were not anything close to a Chicago style pizza, more like Napoli style, thin crust and thin toppings. They were still pretty tasty and we had a big dinner planned so better to not get too full.
They needed to go to the open air market for one of their errands, so we walked that way with them as well. I needed a grater for my cheese and some other things I have been hoping to make, so it worked to get it there. After I got the grater, my boys and I walked back to the apartment to get some rest and finish dinner preparations. They were going to call when they were ready to come over. Since I had most of the stuff done that I could do ahead of time, we had some time to just relax.
They called around 5 and were headed our way. I had the boys help with grating cheese,smashing avocado and cooking the chicken. I prepared some other stuff and tried to get a little more organized. By the time they arrived there was not much to do, but use the garlic press they brought to put garlic in the guacamole and set everything out. It was all pretty tasty. The chicken needed more seasoning, but the salsa turned out pretty good. A little too spicy for Anika, but okay for everyone else. The team had brought some soda and cookies to share. After eating we sat around and chatted sometimes in Russian and sometimes in English. At one point, Annie made up a fairytale, which Anika translated from Russian for us. It was very cute and everyone in the room had a part in the story. We got out the cookies and I heated water for tea and hot chocolate. The girls had not yet tried the hot chocolate that I found at the Billa market, so they wanted to see if they liked it. I think it is pretty close to American hot chocolate. It was a lovely evening and so nice to entertain a bit.
Sergei had been pretty worn out from the early morning wake ups and had gone over to my room and crashed on the bed. By the time the team left, he was completely asleep and we were not able to wake him. We had planned for him to do a Skype call with his best friend Sergei in PA, but I could not even get him awake for that. So Yarik and Vitalli and I talked to Sergei a bit. I was pretty tired too, so shortly after that, I got myself to bed as well. I had to move Sergei, but he was awake enough to at least give me back my spot!
After the team had left I realized I had forgotten to take pictures again. I guess we were enjoying ourselves too much! Maybe next time!

Day 42 - Taking the wrong bus - Saturday, Oct. 29

So we got up early, Yarik took forever in the shower and Sergei and I got breakfast. We got all of our stuff together and got out the door. Yarik called Vitalli to see which bus would take us to the train station. He said bus number 2. We waited and waited, no bus number 2! So it was getting closer and closer to the time we would have to get on the train, so I suggested we take a different bus downtown and then catch one from there to the train station. I thought that bus 4 took us downtown. Well, it did go downtown, but then turned before it got where I wanted to get off. I did not notice that it turned off until things were looking really unfamiliar. I was not sure which way we were going, so I figured we would just take the ride and maybe get lucky. Well, not this time...we ended up in an unfamiliar part of town and decided to get off and take another bus going back to town. By this time it was too late to catch the train. I apologized to the guys and Yarik choose the bus this time, which did take us back to the center where we could walk back to the apartment. We went back to the apartment and dropped off the gifts. We had a snack and then headed back to the open air market. Since we had some extra time, we wanted to see if we could find any other good deals for gifts.
We got a few more things for friends and some gifts for family back in the US. We went back to the apartment again and then went to get groceries. The team from Open Arms were planning to come for dinner on Sunday, so I started preparing things for the next day. They were hungry for Mexican food, so I made the salsa. It sure smelled good, I hoped it tasted good. I had even found some cilantro to use, which was good for me, because I like cilantro, but Darren does not. So I got to use it and enjoy it without him disliking it.
Darren and I got some time to have a "date" online and then we all got to bed at a fairly decent time so we would be ready for church the next morning. Fortunately, we also got the extra hour of sleep, since they change the time a week earlier here.

Day 41 - More of the same - Friday October 28

We needed some additional gifts for Sergei's friends, so we did some more shopping. He chose some small skate boards and some gum and candy. We also bought some orchids for several teachers. We had planned to catch the 10am train the next morning, so wanted to have everything in order.

The boys wrapping a book for a friend

Ksenia called mid-morning and said we might be able to get some paperwork done. She was going to call when she was ready early afternoon. I was pretty excited at the possibility! Unfortunately, when she did call back, she said that we could not get the paperwork yet and would have to wait for Tuesday. Big Bummer!!  Then later I got a message from Yarik's teacher's daughter telling us that she was sick and we would not be able to join them for dinner. So all our plans for the day were pretty much shot. At least we got to sleep in and get a few more gifts for friends.

Gym bag full of gifts

Without much to do that night, we just made dinner and hung out at the apartment. We wanted to get to sleep early, so we would be awake and ready to get to the train. The boys got all their gifts ready to transport and we went to sleep.

Day 40 -Hurray for Internet - Thursday October 27

So another Groundhog Day wake up. Same old same old. Not much to do, just Sergei and I being lazy. I did wake up again and type quite a few more entries. After I had caught up to Monday, I woke Sergei. He had a few more gifts he wanted to get for his friends that we would have to buy in a regular store. I had also promised two families that I would get phones for kids at the orphanage so they could keep in touch. I was just about out of grivnas so I knew we would have to go to the bank. There was a bank in the strip mall by our apartment and a phone store a few doors away from that. I figured we would check those out first and then try to find a sport store to get the goalkeeper gloves that he wanted for one of his friends. Before we left the apartment Ksenya called to tell us that the landlord was planning to come and clean in about half an hour and the internet guy was going to be there in about an hour. It was better that we weren't around while they cleaned, but I would have to be there for the internet hook up. I figured it would work well to do the money exchange and phones and still be close enough to meet the internet guy. We went down to the bank, it was a different branch of the one I normally went to downtown, so I hoped it would work just as easy. There were 3 other women at the cashier window, so Sergei and I waited for quite a while. Sergei was restless and wanted to wait for me outside. I said okay and after a while longer it was finally my turn. I handed her the passport and money and she looked a little perplexed. She took the passport and did some sort of search on the computer. She asked me something in Russian and I conveyed that I spoke English. She asked if I had exchanged money at this bank before and I tried to explain that I had changed some downtown. I am not sure that she understood, but the answer did not help. She still was perplexed and went to confer with some other employees. Evidently the one she needed to talk to was helping another customer, so I waited some more. Just as she began talking to the other employee, Ksenya called to say that the internet guy was at the apartment entrance waiting for me to let them in. I thanked the girl and said I had to go and would come back later. Not sure if she was actually ready to help me by then, but I did not want to wait any longer.
Outside I had Sergei walk back to the apartment with me and we let the guys in and they followed us up to the apartment. I had thought that the landlord would be there cleaning, but he still had not arrived. The guys plugged in the ethernet cord that was already there and made some calls, logged into the computer and adjusted some settings and got online. He tried out 2 different YouTube videos to test the quality and then ran some speed tests. In the meantime the landlord and cleaning lady showed up and started cleaning. The internet guy was asking me some questions and I was not sure what he needed. Fortunately, the landlord translated a bit for me and they wanted to know if the speed was going to be okay. I said I just wanted to be able to Skype to America and figured I would test it out. Of course, no one was awake or logged in, so I tried to call my house to tell them to get on. No one answered! I tried a few neighbors, but could not get anyone. I tried my house again and finally got an answer. They were busy trying to get Bekka out the door, but Darren woke Ellie so we could test the video chat.
It worked fine and the landlord was anxious for us to leave so he could clean without us around. I promised to call back later in the day and Sergei and I decided to go downtown to exchange money where I normally went and would not have so much trouble. As I figured, I went right in and there was no line. I got the money changed fast and we went to the phone store. We got the two phones. We were getting hungry so we went into the EcoMarket and got some snacks. We also found some gift bags to use for his gifts. We got those and I kind of wanted to have us eat something healthy before our candy bars, so we went to a little gyro stand outside the supermarket. Darren and I had seen it before and had wanted to try it out, but never did. Just before we ordered, Yarik called to say that he was on his way. Sergei and I got two gyro type sandwiches. Just as we got our order, Anika called to let us know where there were two sport stores that we could try to find the soccer gloves.. We ate our sandwiches, very yummy, and just as we were finishing we found Yarik. He wanted one, too, so we went back and he ordered one for himself.
After he got his order, we went to the first sports store that Anika recommended that was on the 4th floor above the EcoMarket.  Vitalli met us there. They did not have what he wanted so we went back to the EcoMarket, because Yarik wanted to buy a birthday cake for one of his friends. He got a cake, some juice and some gift bags as well. Then Yarik and Vitalii left us to go back to celebrate the birthday. Sergei and I went to the other sport store that was only a block away. This time we were in luck as they had many gloves to choose from. Sergei found a pair he liked and we bought them and headed home.


At home we took advantage of having internet and called home again. We talked to Bekka a bit and wanted to talk to Darren, but he had a business call. So I saw that Sam Dye was online and thought his boys who were from the same orphanage, but had been adopted this summer, might want to talk to Sergei. They were happy to talk to him and the three of them had a very lively conversation! The boys had to log off, and Darren was finally available, so I got to talk to him as well. Ellie got on later and we talked to her and Bekka and TJ. It was so good to see them all. But I think talking to them so much is making me more homesick. Yarik had finished with his friends and came back to the apartment. He was allowed to sleep with us again. He was also hungry for apples. Sergei and I had snacked earlier in the evening and our gyros were enough of a meal, so we didn't really make dinner. Sergei had eaten all of the apples, so Yarik and I went over to the store to get some more. We bought a huge bag this time. Maybe they will last more than a day!

Sergei posing in the kitchen-although he was not cooking here, he has been working on his cooking skills!

Stretching in the living room

Sergei spread out on my bed

Ellie asked us to take photos of our apartment, so Sergei posed in each room as I took the photos. Then the boys ate some more apples and Sergei and I started watching Mr. Bean episodes. Yarik wanted a bath, so he started filling the tub with water. I poured in some of my body wash and suds it up. He was pleased with that idea. After his bath he wanted to sleep, so Sergei and I gave him the couch for his bed and we took the computer to my room to watch more Mr. Bean. I finally convinced Sergei to get to bed and I had the computer to myself. I finally could upload the blogs and photos that I had ready. I caught up on some email and hoped that Darren would be back online to talk. No luck...it was really late, so I finally gave up and went to sleep.

Day 39 - More shopping - Wednesday Oct. 26

My sleeping prince

So it was just Sergei and I with a whole lot of nothing to do. I woke up fairly early and could not sleep, so I worked on typing up more blog entries to save and post once we had internet. Sergei still had a few more things he wanted to find, so I pulled out the stash of grivnas and refilled my wallet before we headed out for the day. We took the bus downtown again and went back to the open air market. We filed through the numerous stands looking for just the right things for his friends. I had bought him a jacket the day before as the one he was wearing when he left the orphanage was too small and not really warm enough. Yarik had seen it and asked for one as well, so we had to find one for him. We got pretty much all of the gifts that we could buy at the open air market as well as a few gifts to take back to America. It was a really beautiful day out, so we decided to walk back to the apartment. It really wasn't that far and after riding the bus a few times, I realized it was pretty much a straight shot. We got back and worked on English and a few other things. Sergei played some games on the computer, and really just hung out. Yarik came over after school and we decided to make chicken for dinner, so we went back over to the grocery store for supplies to make chicken. I also got some frozen veggies as we had not had many veggies on our menus lately. We came home and the boys helped me make dinner. We fried the chicken with some onions and mushrooms; fried some sliced potatoes with mushrooms and cooked a small pan of peas. The boys covered theirs in ketchup. I thought it was pretty good and I was thankful that we had all worked together to make the dinner. Once again, Yarik had to go back to school to sleep, so he left and Sergei and I followed our regular routine of watching a couple movies. We also played some Uno, but he started cheating again, so I told him he could not choose the movie if he cheated. So I chose Ever After. He did okay through most of it, but got a little bored in the middle and was pesting me. At the end he watched and I think he kind of liked it okay. He still was not ready to sleep, so we watched the end of The Lord of the Rings. We had started the third film the other night and we picked up where we had left off. After that he was ready to sleep, so we both got to bed.

Day 38 - Settling In - Tuesday, October 25

My friend Tonya who left a few weeks ago, said that her life after being in Ukraine waiting for awhile felt like the movie Groundhog Day. I am starting to feel that way a bit as well. As I blog for today, I feel like most of the days this week are blurring together. We really have not had any significant stuff happening, no paperwork to do and not much contact with our family.
Yarik and Vitalii left early in the morning to get back to school. So Sergei and I took advantage of the quiet to try to catch up on our sleep. I knew we could not sleep all day, however tempting it was, as the open air market starts shutting down around 1 o'clock, so we had to get out there to find the things that we needed.
We made a list before we went and I had asked Vitalii for the bus numbers to get us downtown. We took a bus to the center and got off and walked the short distance to the open air market. We found a blanket so Sergei would not have to use pillows to cover with and gifts for some of his friends. I got a pair of gloves as the temps were getting a little chilly. I was running low on cash, because I had forgotten to refill the wallet I take out with me before we left. So the last purchase of gloves that I intended to buy for Sergei had to wait. Which I was glad because I thought they should have been much cheaper than what she was asking. By the time we were done shopping we were both hungry and I figured I would take the opportunity to use the wifi at Celentanos, so we shared a pizza and breadsticks. We each had a Fanta as well, and it was only about $5. Not too bad! The only hitch was that I asked for a pepperoni pizza and we ended up with a pizza with hot peppers. 
We took another bus back to the apartment and dropped off our purchases. Then we went across the street to the supermarket for some ingredients to make spaghetti for dinner and some other food and supplies. I can never buy too many apples, these guys eat them up like crazy. At least it is better than chips and candy, which I rarely buy for them. Yarik and Vitalli came over later and we were trying to get Vitalli's sister's computer to get online. It was not working, so we gave up and Vitalli had to leave. Yarik stayed for our spaghetti dinner, but had to go back to school to sleep that night. So I guess we really did not need to hurry to get Sergei that blanket. Sergei and I watched movies and hung out. It is definitely giving us plenty of bonding time. I hope he is not too bored hanging out with me. I want to try to borrow some movies from the Open Arms gals that we can watch in Russian with English subtitles. Although it is good for him to hear the movies in English, I am sure hearing his own language would me nice as well.
I had asked Ksenya about the guy coming to hook up internet, but no luck yet. Sometime during the day we did some English as well. Both boys are really coming along well with their English. I am really proud of them.

Day 37 - Our new apartment - Monday Oct. 24

Some of the kids, including Yarik, had to be back for school that morning, so I woke up for a little while when they made noise getting ready to leave. I was too tired to be up for the day, and we were just having milk and cereal, so I did not have to worry about cooking anything for breakfast. I fell back asleep and rested well. Somewhere between 9 and 10 I woke up and got dressed. I organized all my belongings to take home that day. We had our devotions together and talked about the plan for the day. Then I went down to see what I could do to help.

19 people in the 11 passenger van

We put out the breakfast cereal and milk, the bowls and spoons. Since about half of the kids had to be back at school, we just had the kids come and eat when they were ready. After they ate, the Ukrainian leaders had one final meeting with the kids. While they were doing that, the rest of the team and I were cleaning up. We packed up the kitchen stuff and cleaned floors and tables. Got all of the dishes washed and put away, etc. The plan was to have a large van take half the group to the nearest bus stop and from there each one could take the bus to where they needed to go. Sergei and I were in the first wave and Anika put us on the bus that would take us back to the center of town to meet Ksenya who would take us to our new apartment.

I was so excited to have a place to set up life with my two boys. We would be able to stay in the apartment until it was time to go to Kiev before going home to America. Sergei and I got off the bus at McDonald's where Ksenya had arranged to meet us. It was about 12:30, and we were both hungry, so I went and ordered us some big mac meals. When we were just taking our last bites, Ksenya arrived and we loaded our stuff into the taxi. The apartment was not far from downtown, so it took us just a few minutes to get there. We were right across from the larger Celentanos Pizza place and a Billa grocery store was across from that. I knew that Celentanos had wifi and with a grocery store across the street, we would be set.

The landlord met us outside the building and took us to the fifth floor where our apartment was located. We went over the terms of the contract and I paid for two weeks and a small deposit. The apartment was just right for us. We had a stove, a washing machine, a bedroom for me with an enclosed balcony, the living room had a couch that folded down into a bed, a sofa and a desk. I also asked about getting internet, and the landlord explained to Ksenya where to go to find out about hooking it up.

Sergei waiting to eat

Our first dinner at our new place

I was very excited! The landlord left and Ksenya pointed out the general direction of things and she left while Sergei and I went to the grocery store. We got water and supplies to make dinner, lunches and breakfast, and of course lots of apples and juice. We were waiting to hear from Yarik. Ksenya had given him instructions on which bus stop would take him to our apartment, so when walked by the bus stop, Yarik was there and saw us. He joined us as we walked back to the apartment. He liked our apartment and was glad that we would have this place to live for a while. He had been talking to Vitaly on the phone to give him instructions to get to the apartment.

Yarik had talked to his teacher and told her about Sergei. She said that Sergei could not join us for dinner at her house that night. I had Anika translate for Yarik to make sure he explained to his teacher that Sergei was with me for good and I could not come without him. So Yarik called his teacher and she said that her house was too small to do it that evening and would have us over a different day.

So Vitaly arrived to visit for the evening. Sergei and I made dinner for the three boys and myself. Sergei had chosen some pelmini and little sausages. It worked out pretty well.

Vitaly had brought his sister's laptop and we were trying to get internet working on that, but the aircard was not working. So we went over to Celentanos to get dessert and use the wifi. Ksenya had gotten information on setting up internet, but had not been able to have someone come and hook it up for us. At Celentanos, we got some fruit and nuts with whipped cream and the boys ordered 2 blinis (crepes) with chocolate. We were able to talk to Darren for a while and chat on Facebook. The restaurant was pretty loud, so it was hard to communicate. At least we got to have a little virtual time together. The guys all came back to the apartment and we put in a movie. Yarik and Vitaly decided to sleep over, so they took Sergei's spot on the fold out bed. They were ready to sleep, but Sergei wanted to keep watching movies. He and I came to my room and watched the rest of the movie. I was ready to get to sleep, but he wanted another movie, I put in one of the batman movies and he watched that while I drifted off to sleep. He woke me at the end of that episode and wanted another. I got that one going and then after the next episode, he woke me again to turn it off. He went back over to the living room to sleep on the small couch. We did not have anymore blankets. I was sorry that he got stuck on the small couch with no blankets, but he did not care. I planned to get to the open air market and get him a blanket the next day!

Day 36 - Camp Fun - Sunday Oct. 23

Again, I woke up early and could not sleep. I started the breakfast planned for that morning. It was pretty easy, I was making baked french toast and frying up some kielbasa. I laid out the bread into the pans. The hardest part would be trying to bake enough for everyone in the oven that was very tricky to regulate. I got the first batch of eggs and milk mixed up and could not find the vanilla. I asked the girls who were awake, and Annie could not find it. She thought maybe Anika knew where it was. I waited to see if we could find it when she woke up. In the meantime, I sliced the kielbasa and put it into the frying pans to cook while the toast baked.

After we had our team morning devotions, I asked about the vanilla, but it seems that it was left behind. So I poured the egg/milk mixture on top without it. And started the first couple batches baking. After the cookie experience, I decided to rotate the pans turning them from front to back and also switching the top and bottom pans. I kept rotating the three batches and by the time they were ready to eat, the first two pans were done just right. We served out the french toast and put bowls of fried kielbasa on the tables. The last pan was just about done when they needed more servings. We brought it out and it was still a little runny in the middle, but we had to make due. I also scrambled the last of the eggs for anyone who wanted them. Nearly everything got eaten up. There was about one serving of french toast left, and all the meat and eggs were cleaned up. Now the hard part of that meal, cleaning the pans. They did not stick as bad as they could have, but there was still a good bit of bread stuck to the pan. We ended up soaking them and letting them sit for later.

The Ukrainian adults had left early that morning to attend their church, so this morning, the worship was led by the Americans. Brett played his guitar and we did 2 songs in English. The Ukrainians had the words in Russian, but most of the kids did not know the songs well enough to sing out. Then one of the Ukrainian girls played a song on the guitar and the kids sang that one out in Russian. I tried to sing along as best as I could, but the English songs were much easier. Next the girl who played the guitar spoke to the group and read several scriptures. She spoke about friends. There was some interaction, and she did well holding their interest. After that the kids had free time and I went to work on lunch.

Craft and Card making

Today's lunch was potato soup, so I figured I would get right on to peeling the potatoes, as I would need a lot. I got them washed and started to peel. Lena, the girl who had given me the ring, volunteered to help peel. I was not turning away any help on this job! Two more people came to help: Brett, one of the American guys and another of the Ukrainian boys. With four of us working, it did not take long to get the potatoes peeled. Then Lena and I chopped them all up. We put them into the two big pots and then Brett and I worked on the rest of the preparations. I chopped up onions and he chopped up the bacon. Once it was all ready, I fried the bacon and onions together until the onions were soft. Then added some water and the potatoes. Now I just had to let it cook until the potatoes were soft. Anika was soon ready to round up the troops for lunch, so I checked the potatoes and they were just right. I added flour whisked into some milk to thicken the soup and it turned out just right. We had also shredded some cheese to put out with the soup. We served out the bowls and again had bread on the tables. The soup was well received, although the bacon was pretty fatty and some of the kids, including Yarik, were not excited about the larger chunks of fat. Can't say that I blame them, but we had to use what was available. There was not too much soup left over, so I guess it turned out pretty well.

Annie and Sergei at the campfire

The afternoon we had a fair amount of free time. First they put out supplies to make crafts. They had paper and glitter and flowers and decorations to make cards. At the end of morning worship, they passed out slips of paper with the name of a secret friend. I took the time to make a card for the gal whose name I had gotten. Many of the kids were making elaborate cards and decorated flowers. Katya brought a decorated flower bunch to me. It was very sweet of her.

Yarik, Mike and Sergei at the campfire

The day before, Sergei had asked me to come outside and play with him, but I had to cook, so today, I searched him out and asked if he wanted to play soccer with me. We went out and kicked the ball around a bit. He challenged me to one on one, but I can not hold my own with him, so it got boring for him fast. We decided to go back inside and he asked to play on the computer. We played a few games of Mahjong and Yarik brought me a pen with a decorated flower attached. Such a sweet son! Soon it was time to make dinner. The group was ready for another meeting, but Sergei wanted to help me, so he stayed with me to make dinner. We had planned to make a chicken and rice dish, but no one had gotten the chicken, so it was just rice. We also had some spaghetti left that they had planned to use for a game, but did not and some eggs that we we could scramble. So that night we had a buffet of the leftover kasha soup, leftover potato soup, spaghetti, rice with seasoning and bread.

Anika and Yarik at the campfire

Sergei was a great help at making dinner. It was really a good day of spending time with him. I had wondered how it was going for him. All of the kids were Yarik's age and older, so he was several years younger than all of the other kids. I was torn between wanting him to have fun and join in with the others and wanting to spend time with him as mother and son, which I had been waiting for so long to do. Having this time with him was really special for me and I hope it was special for him as well. Since we had so much time with Yarik after school each day and on weekends, it was good for him to be with the others and spend this one last weekend with his friends. I feel so blessed that God worked this out for us to be able to attend this retreat. And I still got some time with both of the boys.

Partial group photo at the campfire

After dinner there was more free time, so Sergei and I played some card games. We played Sequence and some Uno. We also played a round of Yahtzee. I think he understood how to play, but it was his first time, so I don't think he understood the scoring quite well enough. The guys had lit a campfire for s'mores and after Sergei and I finished up another round of cards, we joined the others at the campfire to roast our marshmallows. It was his first s'more. He liked it pretty well. Yarik was out there too, taking pictures of all of his friends. He was having a great time around the campfire. I took some good pictures of Sergei as well as many others. They did a big pose with a bunch of the kids who were out by the fire and I got some good shots of that with my camera and a few other cameras. But Sergei was getting bored and wanted to go back in, so I joined him and we went back to play some more cards. We played a few hands of Uno and had a few people join us. Sergei started cheating, so I said I was not playing anymore if he cheated. He started playing fair and we played a little longer. Then Sergei wanted to go watch the film they had started. I played one more round with two of the other kids who had joined us and then went to check on Sergei.

Sergei's first s'more

The film had English subtitles, so I went back and got chairs for Sergei and myself and a few others who did not have one. I sat with him and watched the rest of the movie. After that we both got ready for bed. I found Yarik and gave him his nightly hug and went to my room. This time I slept in my sweats and fleece pullover. Finally I did not shiver through the night.