Sunshine !!

The sun has been shining outside and has been shining in our hearts as well !  We headed to the orphanage yesterday at 3:30 after my last post.  We went to the art room and when we arrived, I said, " how long until Artyr finds us"  I was guessing less than 5 minutes, I was right it was about 3 minutes.  Artyr is an amazing kid and brings so much joy with him every time we see him.  Ginger, I have been getting my fair share of hugs from Artyr, and I always say, one for me and one for your mama, and he gets a huge smile on his face and says, "sank you."  We played with bendaroos for awhile, and for those adults who think they are for little kids, you should try them, they are fun and even Russie made a shark out of them.  As usual, the kids started flowing in.  Dan and little Andre spot my bag every time and like little gentlemen, stand there looking in it seeing what may be in there, they never touch anything, they just look.  Luckily, I had a few special things in there for them, and they were delighted and I got big hugs in return.  Doug and Lindy, Andre is a special little boy and asks about his mama and papa every time we see him.  He seems to be in good spirits and is always a joy to spend time with, you are blessed to have him be a part of your family.  I asked Dan where his sister, Nastya, was and he held his finger up to me, to wait a minute, and he ran off and got her.  She came back with him and is just such an incredible little girl.  She was my buddy for the rest of the night, if I had enough room in my suitcase, she is one that I would be scooping up and taking with me, Dan would be in Russie's suitcase !!!  There are many 

Like I said, bendaroos are a ton of fun,
after Russie put these on the girls started
laughing and saying " Harry Potter"

This is the little Nastya I was saying about, with the brother , Dan, she
is such a sweetheart !

Dan and Andre

moments with these kids that you have to remain composed because you know at any second you could just be in tears.  It is hard for us to fathom that nobody wants these precious kids.  Being around these kids makes me a better and more complete person.  It is hard to explain to those of you who have not met any of these kids, but those who have, will agree with me 100%, that these children bring with them a different kind of Love that you have never known before.  I know I have probably said that before, but sitting here now, I can't imagine going my whole life not feeling this new, special Love.  We showed the kids pictures from home on my computer and showed a few video clips of Russie that are always good for a laugh.  Let me just say, that Russie and I's roles have reversed a bit being here.  He has done all our laundry, all the cooking, and all the dishes...I have to admit, I could get used to it.  So ladies, if you might like the same of your husbands, maybe you should consider a trip to Ukraine !!!  We had a nice dinner last night at Mick and Janel's.  Syvetta joined us, but had to leave to catch the train back to Kiev to get some of our paperwork.  Once again, I could not sleep last night, so it was about 3:00 am that I finally fell asleep.  Mick and Janel have been wonderful tour guides for us here, today they took us and showed us some places and markets we had not been before.  We enjoyed our time and all the people we ran into.  We went to the oprhange soon after we returned and stayed with the kids in the group room instead of the art room.  We brought our Wii with us and we were able to hook it up there and the girls and Artyr had a great time playing it.  It was nice to see them all interact with each other and laugh together.  These kids have really learned how to make the best out of what they have and they are very smart and resourceful.  They catch on to things very quickly and are always going out of their way to help and care for you.  Russie has been working on laying some ground rules for the girls when they come to America.  We have had the "boyfriend" conversation numerous times now, and I think he feels good about how they went.  He was going to tell them they could start talking about dating at 16, but the girls say 18, so we are going with them on this one !  Our last few days with the girls have been good and we are feeling like we are connecting with them as well as we can be here. We are thankful we get to be here and see how their life is.  I am going to post more pictures on my facebook page, it seems they upload faster there, and I am having touble with the pictures here.