Motorcycles, shopping and on our own!

Yesterday afternoon when we arrived at the orphanage, the front drive was full of large men in leather and shiny huge motorcycles, and a crowd of very excited children! This group of probably 20 men and their bikes were from Germany, although many spoke Russian. Apparently they have some connection to the Odessa area. They came for a visit to the orphanage, and boy did they give the kids a treat! They brought stuffed animals, toys, snacks, candy, juice, and of course their shiny, fancy motorbikes!

Our two older kids were part of the group that was allowed to come out and see everything. Mariyana and Sasha made themselves quite at home, found a seat on the motorcycle, and wouldn't hardly move! Their mom and dad were praying that they didn't get too many ideas about wanting their own motorbike when they get older! We of course took pictures (after all, it may be the last time they ever ride one before they turn legal age!!).

Mariyana feeling quite comfortable on a motorcycle!


Mariyana and her friend Vika (Viktoria).


Sasha, the "gentle" biker!


For the last week, we have had Ira with us. She works with Kostya and helps him with his families. When Kostya went to Kiev with our paperwork, Ira came to be with us, and keep working on details here in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky (you have no idea how much work an adoption is here and how many details there are!!). Ira left this morning for Kiev to pick up paperwork from the National Adoption Center (we still aren't sure if it will be today (Friday) or Monday...). Kostya will come back here on Monday, so we are on our own this weekend. We are quite fine with it, and thinking it will be fun.

This morning after Ira left, we visited the kids for awhile and then took the minibus into town to go shopping. I think we have finished shopping for the kids, for now. We managed to get them each 2 pairs of underwear, a pair of shoes, backpack, 2 outfits, PJs, swimsuits and hats - all for about $100. We were pleased. We'd love to do more, of course, for them, but right now we are thinking about making sure we have enough money to buy them plane tickets home.

After spending some time here at the internet cafe, we'll go home, eat lunch, take a nap (a regular part of our days!) and then go visit the kids for awhile.

I also was able to call NWA/KLM today here in Ukraine, to change our plane tickets, and to check on the availability of kids' tickets. Ira and Kostya are thinking that we will likely still be done (as long as we go to court Monday or Tuesday) and ready to go home by Saturday the 21st. Well, the cheapest tickets for the kids were $1024 each! The lady was able to find tickets on the 23rd for $887 each, so that was a little better. We have those reserved right now, but are still hoping to find something better - we'll see! But, for right now, we will be flying from Kiev to Amseterdam on the 23rd (spending the night in Amsterdam) and then Amsterdam to Seattle and Seattle to Lewiston on the 24th. I think we get in around 6:30 PM on the 24th. We are quite anxious to get home. It was 4 weeks ago today when we left. It has been a fun time, and we have really enjoyed pretty much everything about the trip, but we are ready to just get home and start our lives as a family...So, if everything gets done on Friday like Kostya and Ira are hoping for, we may still try to find cheaper seats on the Saturday or Sunday flights...We'll keep you posted!

So, now to some more pictures....

My three little tree climbers (the only reason Mariyana wasn't also climbing trees was because she was painting some of the playground equipment!)...








So, that's all for today. We'll probably be back sometime this weekend. On one hand, we are happy to have our shopping done, but on the other hand, that was something we could do during the late morning when we can't be with the kids. So, we aren't too sure what we'll be doing this weekend!

Thank you for your prayers and well-wishes!

Love to all! Kristen, John, Mariyana, Sasha, Vanya and Oleysa