Quick Update

We made it home safely on Friday night, but I took Victoria straight to our children's hospital. She is very dehydrated and malnouished. Even with IV fluids, she still didn't wet a diaper for 24 hours. They also think her hips are out of joint and that her jaw and mouth are affected by the arthrogyposis. The orthopedic surgeon said she may never walk. Of course, I am not going to give up, but I am feeling rather overwhelmed. All the other kids are all staying with me at the hospital, sleeping on an air mattress. I will try to post pictures soon. Please pray for us!

Kviv

Sorry I haven't been able to blog!

Today is my last day here in Ukraine. I can't believe this part of the journey is almost over, though in many ways it is just beginning.

We've had some tough times.

We've had some fun times!

We've tried new things.

We've made new friends.

We've learned to be resourceful.

We've learned to be strong.

We've seen many beautiful places.

Tomorrow, on my favorite son's 17th birthday, the United States will have two new citizens!

Cover your ears everyone, here we come!

The Road to Poltava

The past three days have been a flurry of activity. We raced to another region, named Poltava, three days in a row, which is about four hours round trip. When we went the first day, the office was closed! Ughh!!

Let me tell you, the road to Poltava is like swiss cheese.

They have delicious cherries they sell on the side of the road.

I tried to pet the cows, but they weren't interested!

My fabulous facilitator, Alex.

Squatty potties are so fun!

My friends, Jen and Wayne are adopting 3 kids from this region too! They went home though.

Francesca pieced the ear drums of many when it was time to ride in the "machina". Just imagine 10 fire alarms ringing in unison.

My friend, Kbac (K-vas). He's very fond of hot dogs. I named him after a popular drink here. It's kind of like soda, kind of like beer and it's kind of gross.

Anya's mom made stuffed cabbage! My favorite! Just like my grandma used to make!

The big day!! Getting dressed.

Saying good-bye

We decided to celebrate their homescoming by sitting in the dark. Yep, the power went out for most of the night!

We're home!

This is the apartment I have been staying in.

I have a new exercise regimen. It's called the "lug two children and a 5 gallon water bottle up six flights of stairs" program. It's working really well.


Francesca has been doing well, but she was scared of the bunny at first! Victoria will not sleep, at all, nada.

We're hoping to be home sometime next week!

Rainy Monday

The weather has turned weird here. It's quite cold and very rainy. Of course, I don't have appropriate clothing.

Hello, old friend. I got a little over zealous and got way too much food!

Much to Anya's dismay, I gave Francesca a french fry! She, of course, loved it. Francesca has never met a food she doesn't like!

Anya asked Francesca which ball she wanted!

Tomorrow is supposed to be a big day. The facilitator is coming so we can go get the girls' new birth certificates. Then, we have to go to another region a few hours away because Francesca was born there. With all the bumpy roads and my weak stomach, hopefully, I won't toss my cookies in the facilitators nice car. Then, we have to apply for the passports. I am worried we won't have time to apply for them tomorrow. Since the passport office is only open two days a week, this would delay me another week and I would have to change my flight again! Then, I will really toss my cookies!!

These little boys were hanging around the gate to the orphanage. They wanted to sneak in and grab some cherries off the tree.

They asked Anya, "Will they kill us if we go in the gate?"
"No," Anya replied, "but you might get a spanking".
"We can run very fast!" the boys laughed.

This tiny house is a vet's office.

Yesterday was a holiday in the Orthodox church. Anya always wants me to have "experiences", so we went to get some flowers blessed at the church. Everyone waited patiently but me. Finally, we decided we had enough of our "experience". I figured the rain had blessed the flowers anyway!

The church was really beautiful.

It was sad to see so many beggers.

Please pray that things go well for us tomorrow!