Monday, Monday.......

We just got back from visiting the kids. We had a great time. M surprised me with a sparkly bracelet. He came running in the room and showed it to me and then put it on my wrist. Then he grabbed Tim and gave him a drawing of a Honda dirt bike motorcycle. He is a charmer. O LOVES candy! We brought all kinds today because we know she likes it. She never had a piece she didn't like. V met us today when we pulled up in the taxi. He was away playing soccer on our last visit. He is a very nice young man and we enjoy his company. We were fortunate to have Claire available to translate for us today. We were finally able to find out if the kids had questions for us. The main question they have is when do we go to court and when will we leave for America. That's a good question because we want to know too! Actually, our facilitator called this morning to tell us that all of the papers have been filed and he should receive them on Wednesday. He is in Kiev and so are the papers so he will travel to our region on the overnight train on Wednesday. He plans to go straight to the court once he gets off the train on Thursday morning to find out about our court date. So, we changed our flight to Monday, Feb. 18th last week, but we may not be able to make that one either. It all depends on the court date/s. We've been told that in this region the court likes to give you two dates. The first date is a preliminary date to meet with the court to agree that you want to adopt the children. Then the second court date is when we all go to court (the children, the faciliator, the director) and make the adoption official. We can't leave until we have the second court date. Then we have to take an overnight train for 14 hours back to Kiev to catch our flight. Please pray for quick court dates and that we can make our flight on Feb. 18th. We hope we will be home sometime the week of Feb. 18th.

O went to get Y so he could talk to Natalie and Bill. It's always good to see Y. That kid is always smiling. He brought a friend with him and it's a boy we've seen before. He's probably 15 years old. He is very polite and very nice to M, O, and V. So there were 7 of us working a puzzle waiting for Claire to get Natalie on the phone to talk to Y.

By the way.......it's freezing today. We would not survive without long johns, hats, gloves, scarfs, thick socks, and good boots.

From Tim
Hey Mom, M has had ice cream before. Marilyn, we can buy a microwave here for about $50. June, too late. We bought a small heater today. The little floor heater in the apartment stopped working. I beat it in to submission and it worked for a little bit, but finally it died. No way to live without one. We will check with Rita about getting another one.

Lyndsey and Lance, I was so happy to see your comment on our blog. You are right about our weather being very similiar. We have a layover in Chi-town on the way home. If we get stuck there.....we'll be calling cuz we got family there. Lance, how is the J-O-B going? We are very proud and happy for both of you. Cannot wait to share it at your wedding. I will try my best not to be crazy uncle Tim at your wedding. It will be great to have the whole family together. Write again and write often.

Brenda, (sharon here) thanks for the update. We were very happy to talk to Stephen before he left for boot camp. It sounds like you had a great time at Gringo's! How was he last night when you dropped him off? I'll keep you posted on our return date.

June, the candy shop is called Dolce Vita and it's across the street fro the big grocery store. They have baked goods, candy, coffee, and tea.