One Step Closer......

We forgot to tell you about Air Force One. When we landed at the airport in Kiev we saw Air Force One parked on the tarmac. It was very cool to see the plane up close. It was very impressive. We would never have the chance to see it like that in the US. On our way out of the airport to the train station they had police stationed about every 1/2 mile. One policeman standing in the rain with a rain slicker and baton. One after the other, after the other, after the other, for miles and miles.

On Thursday we visited the kids at the orphanage. We brought the suitcase to V. The one that we lugged half-way across the world full of clothes and gifts. We were very happy to give it to him. He was thrilled to receive so many nice things (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!). I made Tim and V pose with their matching shirts like Grandma wanted:-). The biggest smile came when he opened the MP3 player. He was really happy when he realized that music was already loaded on it for him. We told M that Tim's friend Shane (who he met) had loaded the MP3 Player for V. M made the motion of a bike rider to indicate that he remembered Shane. We brought kites for them to fly so we went up on the hill (a dump that have been covered over) to fly the kites. They really enjoyed the kites even though it was very cold and overcast. Several boys had beat up old bikes and they would go to the top of the hill and ride down like Evel Knevel. It's a miracle that no one broke any bones. When we were almost ready to go our facilitator called and told us to meet him at the passport office at 5:00pm to get the official Ukraine passports done for the kids. It was already after 4:00pm so we decided to take the taxi back to the apt. to let June and Dennis know our plans. Their daughter hasn't seen M & O in a while. When O and K saw each other they were typical girls screaming and laughing and having a good time. It was nice to see them so happy. M decided to go with Tim to exchange money:-).

We met our facilitator at the passport office at 5:00pm as requested. The kids had to have their photos taken for the official passport. They also had to sign their new last name (our last name) in Russian (Kync). M had to sit on a box to take his photo and couldn't keep a straight face. O made sure to brush her hair and put on a big smile for her photo. It was a great moment to see them sign their new names with big, beautiful smiles on their faces. Then we met J, D, and K at Pizza City and had dinner. It was a great ending to a great day.