Day 15

This morning we were on our own with the children for 2 hours. We went down to the beach with the soccer ball. This only kept Michael occupied for a short while. Then he just wanted to run around, again talking a lot, but we had no idea what he was saying. Kristina was content to sit and take pictures. She has gotten some good shots. We will try to post some tomorrow. She's even gotten some good videos. We are trying to teach her some words in English. She is able to understand some of what we say.

Natasha had set up a cab to pick us up from the camp. We walked out the gate and a cab was waiting. He said something to us we couldn't understand. We got in the car and hoped he was taking us to where we needed to go. Once we got back to the hotel we left to do some shopping. We were able to buy some shoes for Michael and some snack food. Later John took a short nap and Cindy went out to do some shopping. It's amazing how much you can communicate while hardly saying any words at all.

This afternoon we went down to the beach with the children again. Kristina's group was already swimming and making sand sculptures. There were many jellyfish, (medussa in Russian), along the shore. . . ick! Michael was playing with them and was stung. Later he was running all over the place and as we were heading back to the camp he went running way on ahead and wouldn't slow down. Natasha was not happy. We have got to learn more words in Russian to be able to keep him under control. He is going to be a real handful. Before we left we gave Michael and toy ambulance which he loved and Kristina got a pink, (her favorite color), purse with some hair clips and a pink brush. She was so excited. It is so good that she is calm, she will be a big help keeping Michael under control.

Thanks for your prayers,

John and Cindy

Day 14 More of the same

Today we again spent 3 hrs in the morning with the kids. We brought a soccer ball and went down to the beach. Michael is very good kicking the ball and catching it. Kristina played a little bit, but again just wanted to take pictures. She even figured out how to record a video. We didn't even know how to do that! We are trying to learn a few phrases in Russian, but it's hard to pronounce the words correctly.

After an afternoon rest we went back for a 2 hr visit. This time the group was going to have a short program. We waited for about 40 minutes for it to start. Natasha had left us with the children. Kristina was busy taking pictures of her friends but, boy, was it hard for Michael to just sit and wait. He seems to be in constant motion. Also he keeps talking to us but we have no idea what he is saying. We did play some games with the soccer ball as this keeps Michael busy. It appears we will have to keep him busy during the day so he will be tired at night.

For dinner we went to a small cafe in the middle of nowhere. There was a host, waiter, bartender, chef, busboy, and cashier, but it was all the same person. :) While we were eating we watched a herd of cows cross the road about 500 yards down the road. The meal we had was acutally quite good. If you didn't know better you would think you were in Virginia, because the landscape is very similar.

I'm unable to download pictures at this computer, sorry. Kristina is 136 cm tall and weighs 29 kg, Michael is 97 cm tall and weighs 15 kg.

Keep praying for a court date on Tues.

John and Cindy

Day 13 Visiting Kristina and Michael

This morning we spent 3 hours with the children. We walked down to the water for a brief period of time until it started drizzling. We walked back to a main building and spent some time putting together a puzzle. Kristina was very interested, but Michael lost interest after a very short period of time and started running around with his car. He is going to be a handful! When it started raining we went inside. Michael enjoyed wrestling with John. John was worn out. Kristina asked to see the camera and became mesmerized by it. She loved taking pictures. Greg, I think you will have an apprentice. She figured out how to use the tele-photo, view pictures which were taken, and how to delete the picture if she didn't want it. We know what we'll do with our old camera!

After lunch we rested for about four hours. Then we returned to the camp for another 2 hrs. Again we walked down to the water. Kristina was busy taking pictures of everything she could. Some very very good! I think Michael was tired from earlier as he seemed a little less active. John was very appreciative! He will keep us busy. John is amused because a lot of Michael's facial expressions remind him of expressions his dad makes.

Day 12 Seeing Kristina and Michael

This morning we spent some time with Luba by ourselves. She doesn't like to get very close to us. It is also very hard to communicate with her and it's hard to know if she fully understands what is taking place. It's going to take a long time to fully warm up to us. She, at times seems to be scared of us. Maybe because she was rejected by her own mom. Once all the children are together we don't think she will be shy and scared.

While we were with Luba, Natasha completed all the paperwork and sent it back to Kyiv. Now we just wait for a court date. Unfortunately June 28th is a National holiday so all offices are closed Thursday and Friday. On Monday we should find out when our court date is.

After lunch we headed down to Skadosk, it is about an hour drive along mostly 2 lane roads. We are staying at a small hotel with a pool in front. The hotel has air conditioning!

Then we headed to the camp where Kristina and Michael are spending the summer. There are several hundred children here of all ages. The camp is on the Sea of Azov. Kristina and Michael were very excited to see us. They had not been told we were coming back. They came up and hugged us without being told to. We gave Michael a car and Kristina a cross-stitch. While walking around the camp they even took our hands without being asked. Michael was very excited to show us his bedroom. There are four boys staying in the room total. John was excited to see that Michael's bed was made the neatest. Kristina's room has four girls in it. She seems to be into crafts and is making her own bracelets. She also is writing in a journal.

They gave us a short tour of the camp. We were there for about an hour.

We ended the night playing Uno for four hours. We will have to teach Kristina how to play.

Thanks again for all your prayers, please pray for Luba since we will be away till July 2.

John and Cindy

Our current hotel.

Kristina and Michael

Day 11 running errands

Sorry we didn't post last night, but we didn't have a computer available and the internet cafe was closed.

Yesterday morning , (tues), Natasha was busy going around and getting paperwork done. She was at the General's office twice, but she told us she didn't see Cliff. She also had to go to the hospital to get the medical records for the children. While she was gone we went shopping. We managed to buy toothbrushes for all of the children, toothpaste, and shampoo. Then we were just walking up and down the streets. We walked into a market which we didn't realize was a meat market. There were multiple types of dead animals, chickens, rabbits, pigs, etc., lying on their backs, with no fur except for their paws. They were slit down the abdomen with their organs showing as if they were waiting for an autopsy. I wanted to take a picture, but the people here are very funny about having pictures taken in the market. I may ask if I can take one later. I also did some clothes shopping and tried to get another outfit for Luba. It was difficult, but the workers were very helpful. I finally did get one, but it ended up being too big.

After lunch we went to the orphanage. Again this day was a lot like the others. Luba likes to play around outside, going down the slide and playing on the bars. We told her she has a friend, her age, named Mitzi waiting for her in America who has a playset and lives right next door. She wanted to see a picture, but infortunately we don't have one. It's hard to tell how much she is warming up to us, but she's coming arouond slowly. We can understand it is very hard for a child when we don't speak her language. We are trying to learn a few phrases. Mitzi you have a BIG job teaching her English. She did give us big hugs good-bye.

Tomorrow (Wed), Natasha is going to leave us on our own with her, (should be interesting), we are also bringing in snacks for her group. Tomorrow afternoon we will go down to see Christina and Michael. We will be down in their area, (Skadosk), till July 2nd and then hopefully court on July 3rd.

We had dinner at a pizza place with Rob and Jill, the couple from Seattle. They have been really giving us some helpful hints. They adopted an eight year old, 4 yrs ago. Sometimes we think, 'What were we thinking, with three!' Again we are really hoping Christina will be a big help and that she won't be scared, because we know Luba will probably have a hard time when we take her away from the orphanage. It will be interesting to see what she thinks when we are gone for so many days.

This morning at breakfast Natasha managed to reach the white inspector who said she had signed off on all the paperwork. Natasha has some paperwork to do and then will send it by train to Kyiv this afternoon.

This is our current hotel room, and yes, it is orange and maroon of all colors!

To the left is a bathroom we saw and to the right is the exterior of our hotel.

Thanks again for all your prayers,

John and Cindy

Mom and Dad HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! Carol we hope you're enjoying Vegas!!

Day 10 Getting paperwork done

Cindy speaking

This morning we had to get documents from the director of Christina and Michael's orphanage to take to court. We were at the orphanage from 8 am to noon. We waited an hour to see the director, then we were in his office for three hours. Natasha and the director did most of the talking, so we had no idea what was being said, (but then I'm used to that from work). A few times he asked us a question, Natasha would translate, and we would smile and answer yes. The lawyer for this orphanage was also there. We call him 'Cliff' because when we first saw him he had a big mug of coffee. (This is the 'Who let the dogs out guy'.) Actually we have to have names for most of the people to keep them straight. Most of the time in this huge office, I was reading, the 'General' (director) was on the phone and John was trying to stay awake. We were all waiting for Cliff to finish typing up the documents on the computer. Then he ran out of toner and had to get a ink bottle and syringe to refill it! By noon the paperwork was all done and signed and the'General' left.

We also have the white (for Christina and Michael) and black (for Luba) inspectors (named for their color of hair). After we left the General's office we went to the black inspector's office to get paperwork turned in. Then we quickly went back to the hotel to eat lunch. After lunch we went back to the General's office picked up Cliff and went to the white inspector's office with all the paperwork which was done. Also today we got the official OK paperwork from the black inspector today which is great.

This afternoon's visit with Luba was good. We brought the clothes for her to try on and they fit, she also said she liked them. She is 17.5 kg according to the lady at the orphanage, yesterday we measured 108cm tall. For the visit we walked around outside with her. When I took out the camera she started trying to hide and almost started to cry so I put it away. She loves to play on the jungle gym. She does keep smiling at us, though. It's just going to take a long time for her to warm up to us. The caretaker did say when we didn't show up this morning she cried, which I guess is a sign she missed us.

This evening we ate dinner with a couple from Seattle, ( she is in the lighting business like John). They are adopting an eight year old from Luba's orphanage. It was good to compare stories and and hear English spoken. Natasha ordered me shimp. Here shrimp come complete with the head, eyes, and eggs. They tasted the same as at home, but were very small. The meal was good and we plan to go out with them again.

Well gotta go, thanks for your prayers,

John and Cindy

Day 9 Getting to know Luba

This morning we went to Luba's orphanage at about 11 AM. She was outside playing with her group. She did recognize us and waved to us which was exciting, she also gave us both big hugs. We walked around the playground with her a little bit. She does have her ups and downs though. She had cried a few times, I think because she is shy around new people. The orphanage caretaker says she is afraid of change. Today we also noticed her aggressive side. She was running around the playground pulling the boys hats off and laughing! She kept looking back to see if we were watching. We were with her about an hour, when we left she hugged us good-bye. John thought it was so sad being called 'Papa' by so many children today, especially the boys.

This afternoon we went to buy her some clothes. She will come with nothing, not even underwear, but a new baby comes with nothing and we won't have to do diapers. The sizes here go by height. She is 108 cm tall. We found a pink skirt and shirt along with some sandals. We were walking out of the store when we remembered underwear. We went back in and they pulled out little panties along with a little thong! John was horrified! He said not for 20 years.

After a late lunch we went back to the orphanage. Luba was inside playing. She again took us outside. Most of the time we watched her play with her friend, Tanya, who appears to be a few years older. Luba loves to go up and down the slide. We did bring some bubbles and once she figured out how to blow them she had a lot of fun also everyone wanted to be around her. She kept looking back at us and smiling. She though is very timid to be alone with us and gets a sad look on her face at times. We pray she will warm up more before the plane ride home, at least at that time she will have her sister and brother. We are really hoping Christina will be a big help.

For dinner we tried to find a restaurant which was recommended to us by a couple from Seattle. They are adopting an eight year old from Luba's orphanage. We never found it, though. While walking around a guy on the street recommended a restaurant named 'Ego'. We had to walk down a few blocks to find it. The building literally looked like it was abandoned. It also looked like a bomb had blown up next door to it. We walked around back and went inside. Walking up the stairs inside we felt like we were walking through the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland. The decor was awesome! Again a prime example of what is in the inside being totally different from the outside. This was also the best meal we had and all three of us ate for $21. It even had Russain Billards.

Continue to pray Luba will warm up more and more. We hope to be able to see Christina and Micheal on Tuesday.

Thanks for your prayers,

John and Cindy

Day 8 Odessa

Cindy speaking

We had to travel all the way to Odessa today, which is about 200 km away. This time we had a very good taxi driver. The car was very clean and everything had it's own place in the trunk, just like John's truck. The drive took about 2 1/2 hrs, traffic was fairly heavy. The road was two lanes most of the way, so we got stuck behind trucks multiple times. As before we were passing mutiple different cars, even when we thought it would be impossible to pass. At one point, driving home, he made three lanes out of a two lane road, (going 100km/hr), at least the other cars moved part way onto the shoulders. I wish I had had my camera ready! Again we saw cows, goats, chickens, dogs, and cats on the side of the road. We even saw just the head of a cow!

We went to Odessa to go to a second notary because we are adopting from two different orphanages. It truely amazes us how the drivers are able to find anything because no streets are marked. As with the other offices we have been to, this office was very small and drab with just a few tables. The bathroom on the other hand was all black tiles with fancy scrollwork on the tiles, a fancy sink and toilet. It seemed totally out of place.

We had three different sets of papers laid before us, all in Russian, which we had to sign. The notary who was translating the paperwork had a shirt on which said, 'Boston.' She had been there in 2005. (Greg I understand your having a great time!) This time the paperwork was about the childrens names. They are now officially:

Christina Addison Bowling
Claudia Lubov Bowling (she's called Luba)
Michael Alexander Bowling


We were in the office less than 45 minutes. Then we went down to the Black Sea and ate a restaurant. Again the food was very good. We are staying pretty much with beef and chicken dishes and some form of potato. The restaurants are big into presentation. I had three very small eggs done sunny side up on crunchy onions, which looked like a birds nest, on the side of my plate just for presentation. This was the center pieces on our table, a live fish!

This week in Odessa is 'Motorcycle Week', (sort of like Sturgis, for those of you who know). Motorcyles were everywhere. We even saw some Harley Davidson's!!

This is Luba, she has a dimple in the middle of her chin. We haven't been able to get back to see Christina and Micheal.

Thanks again for your prayers, we can really feel them!

John and Cindy

Day 7 Moving right along

This morning we had to go to a notary to sign official paperwork stating we are adopting these children. It was all in Russian, even our names, but we could tell where our address was because numbers are the same. There is just so much paperwork involved, we are very glad Natasha is having to keep up with it and not us.

Afterward, we went to the orphanage to see Lubov. This visit was not as good as the first one. We brought a Magna Doodle for her to draw on, but she didn't seem very interested. She did draw the sun when the caretaker asked her to. We kept asking her what she liked to do. She said she didn't like to play with balls and she didn't like to draw. Strike one!? She does like to play with dolls. Later we walked around the building with her while she held Cindy's hand, which was very good. Second major problem, Cindy gave her M&M's, and she DID NOT LIKE THEM!!! How is this possible? When we left she did wave good-bye to us, we told her we would be back later.

After lunch we went shopping a bought a Barbie type doll, which came with a brush, and also shoes which Lubov could wear. This time she was a totally different child. She seemed very happy to see us. She was inside playing with her friends, she stopped, put her shoes on grabbed a hat and her cat we had given her yesterday and led us outside. She was told she was getting a gift from Mama and Papa, which she seemed happy about. She really liked the doll and the shoes. She became very popular with the new items. We watched her run around on the playground with the other children. She loves to climb and slide down the slide, a regular monkey. We were also told by a different caretaker that she is the best drawer in the class. At the end of our visit, she hugged us both good-bye. This was a very good visit!

Tomorrow we drive to Odessa which is about 200km away, to see another notary. If everything goes well, we are hoping for a court date on July 3rd. We should be able to come home about 14 days after court.

At dinner we made two new friends, a cat and a dog which hang around the street near our hotel. We gave them both food, but John says we can't adopt anymore. Oh, well.

Next Tuesday and Wednesday we hope to be able to see Christina and Michael.

Keep praying things continue to run smoothly,

John and Cindy

To the Lambert's, Natasha says Hello.
Alli, I read your comments.

Day 6 Going to the 2nd orphanage

We had to get up early today. Breakfast was at 7:30. We had meetings with orphanage directors and government inspectors. In one of the offices while we were waiting a man's cell phone went off and his ring tone was, 'Who let the dogs out' in English...quite funny.


Then we set out on the drive to see the other two children. They are at a 'resort' which is 60 km away. This area is much different than Kyiv, cooler, high 70's, and not as humid. We had to drive through some very desolate areas. We saw cows, goats, chickens, and dogs wandering around on the side of the road. It took about 75 min to get the the 'resort', and I use the term loosely as in loose gravel on the roads, ( if there is something more than dirt). The resort is more like a summer camp, they are there because there isn't enough room at the orphanage for the children. When we arrived, we talked first with the doctor about the children, then we were brought into a big room to see the children.


Christina turned 9 in April, she is healthy and smart and speaks a few English words. She has brown hair and big brown eyes, she looks a lot like her sister. She is a very beautiful girl, but she has what appears to be a hemiangioma on her left cheek. The doctor said laser surgery to remove it would be $2,000-5,000, which the gov't won't pay, but it is correctable. So we will be consulting with CHKD plastics when we return. She liked the pictures of the house we brought and when she first saw the outside of the house, she looked at it and said, 'Home', it brought tears to my eyes. We gave her a cat beanie baby which made her eyes light up. She said she dreams of having a family. We showed her the picture of her sister and she couldn't believe how big she had gotten.


Mikola, (Michael), turned 4 in April. We were told he is healthy, very clever, and a little hyperactive, but what 4 yr old boy isn't? He is blonde with dark eyes. When he saw us, he asked Natasha if he could sit on John's lap. You can tell by the look in his eyes that he will be the mischievous one. We gave him a lizard beanie baby which he liked. He was making the tongue attack his sister. He didn't remember his other sister from the picture, he was only 2 the last time he saw her.


We were only with them for about 30 minutes then they had to go to lunch. We gave them some cookies and told them we would be back.


We then had the long drive back to the hotel. We ate lunch once we got to the hotel and then had to leave to go see the gov't inspector for Lubov's ophanage. This inspector was very nice and spoke a little bit of English. She has a daughter living in Pittsburgh. She liked all the pictures of our home. We were only there for a short period of time while Natasha made multiple copies of all of our paperwork. Unfortunately, since it was getting late we weren't able to go back to see Lubov today because the director of the orphanage wasn't going to be there.


If you haven't figured out by now, we have decided these will become our children! We feel the Lord has brought us all together. The children really want to be part of our family. We

are not sure if we will change their names or not, we will have to talk with them. This is all so exciting. We just pray all the meetings and paperwork will come together in a timely manner.

Now we are back at the hotel for the evening, we may watch a DVD and yes, Cindy brought a cross-stitch she is working on. Some other Ukrainian observations. Yesterday Cindy ordered hot chocolate. They make it when you order it and it is very much like hot fudge sauce in a small mug. Also they do not have frozen food at the restaurants, food is all cooked fresh, so it tastes better and takes a little bit longer to get. We also have a few cats living out front of our hotel, one looks like a roughed up Jasper.

This is our current hotel room. It is actually quite nice.

Again thanks for your prayers,

John and Cindy

new number

Just got a new cell phone number, from the US it would be 011-38-066-153-8959

Day five going to one orphanage

Cindy speaking

Last night we boarded a train at about 9:15 PM to go from Kyiv to Kherson which is about a 13 hr ride south. We were in the first class car, which meant we had airconditioning which worked. Our whole room was smaller than our bed at home. The room consisted of two beds and a table. There was a fake violet on the table, (is that a sign?). Airconditioning only worked when the train was moving, really it wasn't bad at all. There was a small bathroom at the end of the hallway. Natasha is with us during this part of the trip and was staying in a room just down the hallway.

We arrived in Kherson at about 11:00 AM and took a taxi ride to a hotel near the orphanage. We may stay here for a few nights then go to an apt. We took showers and ate lunch, the mashed potatoes were great.

We then took a taxi to the orphanage to see the middle girl, born in 2001. Her name is Lubov, (Love in English). We first spent some time talking with the director, as the children had gone to a retreat and would be back in about 30 minutes. We were told she is healthy, eats well and interacts well with the other children. Her brother and sister are in a different orphanage and she hasn't seen them in two years. She has been in this orphanage since Oct 2005 and has had no family members visit her, just heartbreaking.

When she returned from the retreat we were taken into a room to see her Natasha was with us, also the nurse and a teacher. She was so cute, light brown hair and brown eyes. Mom her hair was done like you used to do mine, braided up! She was very shy and didn't do much talking. They said she was tired from being at the retreat and the 100 KM drive back to the orphanage. We brought her a cat beanine baby which she seemed to like. She liked the pictures of the house and really liked the pictures of Hazel. She didn't want to sit on our laps, but did sit beside us for picutures. She said she's never been in an airplane, but wanted to go on one, she also wanted to see us tomorrow. It was just very emotional.

Tomorrow in the morning we should go to the other orphanage to see the older sister and younger brother. We will be back to see Lubov in the afternoon.

We will wait to show photos until we are sure these are the children.

Thanks for your prayers,

Cindy

Day four Some observations

Cindy speaking (John is napping)


Sorry our posts have been so short recently, but we were feeling sort of down. We are doing much better now. We are excited to be going to see the children. I will comment more on them later.


Just wanted to give everyone a feel of how life is in Ukraine. People drive all over the road, it's a real free-for-all. If there are no lines on the road they may drive on the opposite side until another vehicle comes along. There are many different types of vehicles which range from very small cars up to Acura SUV's. Despite the driving techniques most cars don't have any dents.


The market was an experience. You have to leave your backpacks in lockers in the front of the store. The frozen vegetables are in bins with scoops. Snack foods and sweets are very rare, although they do have Bounty candy bars, (my favorite), which I haven't seen in years.


One can't drink to water, so everyone cares around bottled water, gased (carbonated) water in very big here. It took a while for us to realize the waiter was asking which type of water we wanted until he made a sound like a soft drink fizzing. Restaurants are few. We have eaten at McDonald's twice, it tasted the same. We ate at TGIFridays also, I have to say I liked the potato skins better here, maybe the bacon had a slightly different flavor. We have also seen a Baskin Robbins, ice cream is very big here, although the people for the most part are thin, maybe because they walk so much.


We feel very safe here, walking up and down the streets even at dusk or later is no problem. The people seem friendly, although we can't understand what they are saying. The police don't seem to carry guns and we were told if they do, they have rubber bullets. At the Elton John concert, with mobs of people pushing all around, we weren't worried.

We have done some shopping in the stores and we managed to have the sales people understand what we were trying to say. Greg the dictionary has come in very handy. Nesting dolls are very popular, (wooden dolls which are opened and there is a smaller one inside), sometimes the smallest one is a few millimeters. Greg we found and bought the President nesting dolls, both USA and Russian. There was even a Clinton doll. The inner dolls were Hillary, Monica(stain on dress), Paula Jones, and the smallest one was a cigar, we did not buy this one. The nesting dolls which are families have a mother, father, many children, a cat, and a chicken, it was quite funny. All the people selling along the streets really want American's to buy from them.

The cats here don't really even look at you when you call. They are not used to being fed, much less getting treats. Yesterday before we left the apt. I fed three cats the rest of our cheese and milk, they seemed very grateful.

Thanks for your prayers,

Cindy

Day 4, second day at the SDA

Well, we have decided on children to go see. Three, all siblings, a girl born 4/10/98, a girl born 4/13/01, and a boy born 4/30/03. Yes, if these are our children, all five of us will have birthdays in April. We do feel better about these children, than we did about the children we had looked at yesterday. No one can understand what a difficult decision this is, unless you have gone through this process yourself. We spent a lot of time in prayer and crying last night.

We will be on a train at 9:30 tonight to travel through the night to Kherson. They are in two separate orphanages, which are close together.

Until we leave tonight we will walk around Kyiv and enjoy the sights, maybe do some shopping.

John and Cindy

Day 3 at the SDA

"John speaking"

Well, it was not a real productive meeting at the State Dept. of Adoption today. It was actually quite disappointing to say the least. We saw a fair number of different sibling groups, and when we inquired about two of the groups, they were not available. Evidently, the SDA records are not the most current. We have another meeting tomorrow. Perhaps there will be a group that we would like to visit. This is the time when we seek everyone's prayers!

Having said that, we are out for the evening for dinner and a little window shopping. Hopefully the results of today has not dampened our spirits.

We hope all is well back home!

By the way, our correct cell phone no. 011-38-095-680-3833

John

"Cindy speaking"

Well, as you can tell from John's note we are disappointed; but we know God has the right children chosen for us already. We will have another chance to see other referrals tomorrow. Please pray that we are shown referrals which we feel are the right children for us. We don't want to be difficult, but this is a huge decision to say the least! We know God has not led us this far, to have us not find the children we are comfortable with.

I can't emphasize enough how HUGE this prayer request is.

Cindy

Below are pictures of our apt.

Bedroom, and kitchen

family room

outside view, this is our balcony,

I just figured out how to rotate the picture. You have to realize, I'm typing in English, but all the other instructions are in Ukrainian, so it is very difficult to figure out what we are supposed to do.

this is the front door to our apt. building.

Second day

Well, we just lost everything we had typed and have to start over. We were very tired yesterday, but we stayed busy. We went to the market and bought some cereal, milk, and sandwich materials. This is John and Yuri at the market.

When we got back to the apt. we took a short nap because we were so tired. Yesterday evening we walked about a mile to Independence SQ. and ate at a McDonalds. There was a free outdoor concert by Elton John which we listened to for a short period of time. Many, many people were there.

Our apt is very small, I was trying to download pictures and lost the blog. We have a very small washer, one load is one outfit! I can't figure out how to rotate the picture. Outside our apt we have seen four cats so far, Cindy attempted to speak to them, but they didn't understand English.

Running out of time, more Later Cindy and John phone 380506803833

We're Here!!!!!!!!!!

Well we finally made it. We got about 3 hrs of sleep Thursday night and maybe 1-2 hrs on the plane from JFK to Kiev, so we are very tired. We arrived at 9 AM right on time and we were rushed through customs. VIP's!

Driving down the roads at about 60 mph with the windows open and going from lane to lane was a different experience. Kyiv has 3 million people and lots of traffic. It's hot here, in the 80's. We are staying in a small apt thru Tuesday, living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Just a place to hang your hat. We have an appt at the SDA at 2PM on Mon. Tues we will then head out to the orpanange.

Now we are off to the market to buy food.

John and Cindy

The Last few hours

Well, hopefully we have everything done, as we will be leaving in a few hours. As we're looking at the clock it is after 1:00 AM. The suitcases are closed and we are getting together last minute items for the carry on bags. We have made the 'last minute' trip to Wal-mart everyday this week. We've been in Sears four different times in the past two days. Even today we spent five hours driving around shopping for last minute items, (and we wonder why we're still up). Sorry Sharon, but we did buy a DVD player. Thanks anyway. We were afraid something may happen to yours and we wanted two jacks. If you need it you can call the house and pick it up.

Hazel has been moping around the house and trying to sleep in the suitcases, we've tried to tell her she really doesn't want to go. (She actually just jumped on my lap as I'm typing).

Please pray for a safe flight later today. We leave Norfolk at about 10:30 am, have a 4 hour layover in JFK, and then leave for Kyiv at 4:20. We will arrive at 9:00 am, Kyiv time, 2:00 am our time. Pray for Cindy as she was diagnosed with Bronchitis yesterday. After antibiotics and inhalers she is feeling better, but doesn't want to be coughing on the plane.

John and Cindy

Five days till we leave!!!

Just five days left till we leave!! We can hardly believe it, it's really going to happen. The time has gone by so fast. Cindy has been busy painting the front porch railings (when it was 90 degrees out). In the next few days she will be painting the bathroom, which the children will use. Bedrooms are as ready as they can be with beds and dressers, we may end up getting children's comforters down the road. We also have children's toothbrushes and toothpaste. Everything else will have to be gotten when we return.

We have started making long lists (which seem never ending) of all the items we will want or need to take. Everything is being collected in the back bedroom to be arranged for packing, (including M&M's), but are they for the children or for Cindy? Unfortunately we can't bring out the suitcases till the last minute because Hazel, (our cat), becomes very depressed when she sees them. Don't laugh, it's true. Although, she always has someone with her. Cliff, John's brother will be staying at the house with her until we return with the children, at which point whe may wish we were still gone.

We continue to pray daily for the children God has waiting for us. This will be a huge change for us and for them. He will prepare their hearts and take away their fears.

John and Cindy