This is the day that the Lord has made...

Well...they are ours!!!!! Thursday morning we went bright & early to pick up the court decree. We had to wait until afternoon for the Director to get back to the orphanage so we could check the children out. When we arrived, both of them were so excited. We got Dima (Nate) ready first. He said "Paca" (bye) to his friends. He didn't cry, but I did. Then we all went together to get Anya. She had just started her nap time. She came right in and we got her ready to go. Since her groupa was napping, she went around to her friends beds and told them "paca". Her teacher, Sveta was really sad to see her go, but she said something that I will never forget. Let me digress for a moment. Those in the "adoption community" are VERY SENSITIVE about the words "real parents". People will ask parents & children alike, "So, where are your real parents?", etc. Not intending to be cruel, I'm sure. Well as we were leaving yesterday she is telling Anya (Hannah), "Now you will have REAL PARENTS, and a REAL FAMILY!" Isn't that wonderful? Because that REALLY is the definition of the term. So it was a beautiful day. I asked the Dir. if this was a sad or happy day for her. She said that it is sad for her because you see the children come in sickly/malnourished and they do their best to provide for them and make them well. But she said the one thing that we can't provide for the children is a family. And they should all have family's. So it is a happy day in that regard." Isn't that great too?!?!? Then we went to dinner with some new friends (the Mapp's) and Francis (another new friend from Nigera here studying comp. engineering). We went to a local Ukrainian restaurant with Ukr. cuisine. It was sooooo good. WE had the equiv. of Ukr. BBQ (nothing like Bad Brad's in Yukon) and it was great! Then they had a live authentic Ukrainine band, complete with tambourine and goatskin covered drum/bass. The kids LOVED it! They had so much fun. And as the band played and sang the kids were dancing, it was great. Then our translator leaned over to me and said, "Kayla, they sing a song about children should have good families." Isn't God sooooo cool. We really had a terrific day. Dima said to Anya, "Anya looks, it's dark outside and we are still playing!" Such little things that really put things into perspective.

The kids were a hoot last night trying to go to sleep. We made a pallet for them on the floor and they were so giggly and wiggly. What fun! We just video-taped about 10-15 minutes straight of this time. Scott & I were in stitches with laughter. Anya did wake up about 3:00 am crying, I;m sure it was a little scary being in a new place. So she came & climbed in bed with S&I and she promptly went back to sleep while S&I got little sleep the rest of the evening. Oh well, they'll be time to sleep later! :)

Well the bad news, if you could call it that is that we are not leaving Kharkiv until Monday. I was so ready to leave tomorrow that today while Scott went to get new birth cert & passports, I stayed home with the children, I pulled out all of our stuff so we could pack. Now we are stuck here for the weekend. Their "labor day" is Mon & Tues so we won't be able to get any business done in Kiev until after Tuesday. We HOPE & PRAY that we leave on Friday. I have to email the travel agent tonight so I can get our tickets changed. THERE"S NO PLACE LIKE HOME...THERE"S NO PLACE LIKE HOME...

So thanks again for your prayers. We are here at the internet cafe' with 3 children and a BUNCH of international college students. We are getting some odd looks, but hey! You do what you gotta do! I keep thinking of my friends with 3+ children. WOW!!! I had no idea how tough this is (great & tough) so know that I am praising God for you!

Until tomorrow...
Much love from Ukraine.

PS: Kelly & Jennifer I vacuum sealed the cookies you made for us before we left and we just ate them (vacuum sealed for freshness) anyway, the kids loved them and they were like a little taste of love from home, so thanks! :P