Day 6 – Yarik joins us!
We had made plans for Yarik to come to meet us in Oktyrka and spend the weekend with us. I was so excited that he would be here that night. We took our time in the morning as we knew Sergei was not going to pick us up until 2:30pm. First we went to the open air market for some shopping. While we were there, we got a call from our Sergei that Yarik was already in Oktyrka and wanted us to meet him. So we called Ksenia and had her call Yarik and arrange with taxi Sergei to pick him up and take him to our hotel. We finished checking out the open air market and walked back to the hotel. We waited outside in anticipation of his arrival. Tressa went up to the room to get our camera so she could take photos of our reunion. It seemed like a long time, but it was not really that long and taxi Sergei pulled up with Yarik in the front seat. Darren had called dibs, so he was the first to get hugs. I followed close behind. We all got some good hugs and then went to get some food for lunch. We went to the wifi cafe and were able to do a facebook chat with Bekka, Olivia and Laraine Brands before they went to school. They were all glad to get to see Yarik. We tried to get our lunch fast, since we knew that Sergei was coming back to pick us up soon. But of course, today, they were really slow. By the time we got back to the hotel for Sergei to take us, he was already waiting.
I ran up to the room to get our bag of stuff to do with the kids. And this time Darren, Yarik and I went to the orphanage while Tonya and Tressa waited at the hotel for her Vitaly who was allowed to come and spend the weekend with them.
We arrived at the orphanage and were not sure where Sergei was, but in a few minutes he came around the corner and waived. Yarik was able to introduce us to one of his past teachers. I went to Sergei for a hug. He wanted to go to the sport stadium to play soccer. We went over, but did not have his size 5 ball that was locked in their storage closet. I had brought a floppy frisbee, so we played keep away for a little while. Then we all were hot and tired, so we sat down for some Uno. After a few rounds of Uno we decided to walk down to the river where the kids would swim in the summer. Sergei needed to let his teachers know where he was going, so he and I went around to tell them.
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| With our sons by the river |
Then the four of us walked down the path through the school grounds to the river. We met the pigs on the way and took some photos. At the river, we had a beautiful setting for photos. The boys climbed the tree and posed. We used the timer and took some photos of the four of us. As the sun was setting the scene was even more beautiful. A small line of geese floated down the river toward us in the sunset. It was very picturesque and we got many beautiful shots. It was so nice to just pal around with the four of us. We walked back to the orphanage grounds and played around a bit with some kids near the playground. We did not have much time, though and it was soon necessary to say good night. I always hate this part. At least we could take Yarik with us this time. It was a great evening and I am so thankful for the way it worked out.
We had taxi Sergei drop us off at the Montplizer restaurant for dinner. There we were able to get wifi again and catch up with the day's news. I called my mom and brought her up to date and then called Angie to talk to TJ. I was pretty surprised when TJ said he missed me a lot. I asked if he missed Daddy a lot, too and he told me, “You can tell him that”! I just laughed. I am not sure if he meant that he did, or he just wanted daddy to think that. He was doing well. He said that he was getting his school work done before the other kids got home. I related that I was proud of him! I am glad that it is working out for him to stay at my sister's and spend time with his best buddy, Luke.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel. Yarik and I worked on some English and Russian, read the Bible and then Darren and Yarik watched a movie together while I went to sleep. I finally was able to drop off quickly and sleep pretty well.
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