1,2 or 3? Actually - 4!!

We finally found an internet cafe today in the little town of Belgorod-Dnestrovksy. So, we know you have all been waiting with baited breath, and the grand revealing of our children is finally here!

The mysterious sibling group that we have been talking about for 2 weeks are definitely our kids. It was a long wait to finally see them, but it took only about 5 seconds to agree that not only are these the perfect kids for our family, but it was definitely worth the wait!

So- let the introductions begin.

The oldest is Mariyana Faith. She is 11 years old, and her birthday is in December. She seems to be a real tomboy, and has enjoyed playing ball with us. I think she will be the next great volleyball player for the Marble family! Mariyana stands to my shoulder and her feet are almost as big as mine, and definitely bigger than her Aunt Kathy's and her grandmother's. We have been joking that we don't know if feet size is an indicator of future growth, as it is for puppies, but if that is indeed the case, then she will be pretty tall. Maybe the Marble-Bennett family will have some tall genes finally introduced!


Mariyana blowing bubbles the first day we met her.

The next oldest is Alexandr Bennett. Since he is the first grandson, and the Bennett name is dying out with Kathy and myself, we thought it would be an appropriate middle name for the grandson. Alexandr actually goes by Sasha - a common nickname for Alexandr here in Ukraine. Sasha is 9 years old, has a birthday in April, and is quite shy. But, don't let that fool you - he is quite the charmer. All the pictures we have of him have an adorable smile, that we'll have to watch out for in a few years!


Our little charmer, Sasha!

The next child is Ivan Richard. Ivan goes by Vanya (rhymes with Tanya) - again a common nickname for Ivan here in Ukraine. Vanya is 7 years old. His birthday is in May. He, of all the kids, seems to understand the most English right now. He is skinny, skinny, and we fully expect him to gain a bunch of weight once we get home. When we bring the kids snacks everytime we see them, Vanya's is always the first to be gobbled up.


Little Vanya.

Finally, the last one is Oleysa Joy. Oleysa's birthday is in June and she just turned 5. She is a little chatterbox and her middle name really reflects her personality (unless she is pouting, which she can also do with great fortitude!). Oleysa is quite a little hugger and just keeps on talking to us non-stop even though we have no clue what in the world she is saying. She is apparently the orphanage favorite here in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky.


Oleysa Joy posing for pictures at the orphanage.

So, that's the kids. We have had so much fun getting to know them. The orphanage is very open to having us come visit, as long as we work around the kids' eating and sleeping schedules. Typically we have been going in the morning for a few hours, and then again after naptime for awhile before dinner.

Our schedule is starting to shape up as well. Kostya is heading to Kiev tonight on the overnight train to bring all the paperwork back to the National Adoption Center. They have 3 days to process and approve all the paperwork, so everything for court will be headed back our way on the Thursday night train. We are hoping to be in court Friday, have immediate execution granted (ie 30 days waived), go to get the kids' new birth certificates on Saturday and Monday, passports on Tuesday in Odessa, overnight train to Kiev on Tuesday, then Wednesday and Thursday will be medical examinations and embassy appointment for visas. So, with any luck, we will be flying home on Friday. That is, of course, if we can find tickets. Finding 6 airline tickets on the same airplane may be no easy task - so we might have to just be patient waiting until the right time.

We are so excited to get home, and start our family of now 8!! Wow - that sounds pretty big!

For all of you bargain shoppers out there, keep your eyes open for either a 8-passenger, or better yet- as 12-passenger van that is for sale for a reasonable amount! Somehow our little 7-passenger villager just won't hold our new family! Right now, that is the least of our worries - we figure we can take 2 cars when it is time to go grocery shopping and to church!

One more note about names:
We've decided to keep the children's original Ukrainian names, as we really like all of them. Mariyana (we thought it was Maria initially, but it is Mariyana, and she doesn't like Maria!) was my great-grandmother's name, and has been on our name list each time for children. Mariyana's middle name is going to be Faith. She is the definite leader of these children, and it will be a very big change for her. We thought Faith really fit her, us, this entire experience and her journey she will take to become a Marble!

A few more pictures....(because we know that is really what you want to see - not a bunch of words!!)


The four kids with "Mama"


The four kids with "Papa"


Sasha and Mariyana the first day we met them - they loved blowing bubbles! I think we have used up 4 containers of bubbles!


The two little ones at the orphanage. They absolutely love playing with and wearing sunglasses. We need to find each of them their own pair!


Our big girl, Mariyana. John keeps "reminding" me of all the different milestones that are quickly coming up with our new 11 year old daughter - you know, things like driver's licenses, playing club volleyball, college! All sorts of things I figured were a long ways off just a few weeks ago! But, in many regards, it is awesome to look back over the past few months and realize how God has been preparing our hearts for not only a larger sibling group, but also for older children. We feel so blessed to have already discussed and "figured out" so many things that having older children entails. There will of course be a large learning curve, but we look excitedly forward to those different opportunities!


The orphanage grounds. They are quite beautiful and very well kept. The building itself is quite large - we are guessing there are probably around 300 children in the orphanage. Everytime we are there visiting our children, there are several other families also visiting their children. There have been 3 other American couples and 2 French families here in the week we have been here. Only the French families are adopting single children. The other American couples have 2 children, 2 children and 3 children, and then us! We are amazed how busy this particular orphanage is!


Hey, how'd that one get in there??!!? Well, our adoption adventure has been far from anything tough and boring now that we are finally here in Belgorod-Dnestrovksy. We are on the Black Sea, and so this weekend, in between visiting the kids, we roughed it on the sandy Black Sea beaches, complete with water that was 79 degrees! Even John went swimming several times and was in the water for 30+ minutes at a time!

That's all for today. With any luck, we'll be able to update again tomorrow!

Love to all, John and Kristen