Friday our paperwork headed back to Kiev on a train with our facilitator. So now we are just waiting until Tuesday. Then on Tuesday, we have some more documents to sign at the courts.
Saturday, the kids had class until 2:00, so we didn't go to the orphanage until then. Yep - school on Saturday. So, next time your kids complain about school - ask them if they want to go to school in Ukraine? :) We spent about 2.5 hours at the orphanage hanging out with Lilya and Alex and some of the other kids....Nastya (Lilya's friend - seems like this is her only friend.), Sergiy (the boy one of my best friends tried to adopt but he said no after they traveled there to get him), Sasha (another one of my friend's parents tried to adopt him and same thing - he said no when they traveled to get him), Dima, Vasia and a bunch of other kids that came and went. The iPad was a popular device! The kids LOVED Angry Birds....sigh! Angry Birds - I do not like Angry Birds! I'm afraid we created 6 little Angry Bird Monsters! Haha Then we handed out some candy, chap stick and some of our McLaughlin's 3+2 wrist bands. They loved the bands too!!!
Last night we ate at a restaurant called Cafe Fiesta.....oh my!!! That place was amazing!!! We have had borsch at every restaurant that we've eaten at and that borsch was by far the best we've had!! Here was what we had:
Danny: borsch, 1 sushi roll and coffe
April: chicken, potato and onion dish and bottled water
Coby: crepes with dessert sauce, "chipped potatoes" (aka French fries), bottled water and cake
Total cost, including tip: 225 grivna, approx $28
The "standard" tip here is 5-10% but I want our servers to be blessed and so we have consistently tipped 15-20%! I can't even imagine tipping 5-10%!
Sunday morning, Pastor John picked us up for church at New Hope Center. He is a Canadian missionary who has been here for five years. He started a church here and also started a Trade School for orphans that age out at 16. He is doing unbelievable work here. We had worship that was amazing! They were singing in Russian but to all the popular worship songs like "How Great is Our God" (Chris Tomlin), "How He Loves Us" (David Crowder) and Open The Eyes of My Heart. Since Coby I have been studying the Russian alphabet, we were even able to sing some of the verses in Russian! Unbelievable! Then a local translated the entire service for us. It was great!!! Afterwards, Pastor John and his wife had us over for lunch for some "leftover Thanksgiving" dinner! YUM!!! So, we ended up with some turkey after all!
After lunch, our driver took us to the orphanage and we spent some time with just Lilya, Alex and her friend Nastya. We didn't hang around any of the other kids today and while I really enjoy that (a lot) it was nice to just be with our kids!!! We played UNO, played with some cars, hit a balloon around and let them play on the iPad. We also saw some pictures that Lilya and Alex drew! Every time we come, they ask us, "Mama, Papa, internat (orphanage in Russian) tomorrow?" When we say, "Yes!!", their eyes light up and they get so excited!!! Oh my gosh, honey, of course we will come see you tomorrow! We wouldn't miss it for the world!!!!!
Pictures are out of order but it is too difficult to try and fix.... :(
This is a view outside of our apartment from the balcony - our building is identical to this one
Coby and Alex being silly on Saturday.
Coby, Nastya and Lilya in Alex's room on Sunday
A picture that Lilya drew
Coby, Alex, Lilya and Nastya on Saturday
Coby's crepes with dessert sauce at Cafe Fiesta for Dinner Saturday night
Alex's room - there were 10 beds in the room. Alex's bed was the next to the last one underneath the Tom and Jerry curtains!
Vasia, Dima, Alex and Nastya playing the iPad on Saturday
Danny and Alex playing cars on Sunday in Alex's room
Coby and Nastya playing the iPad on Sunday
Everywhere we walk, Nastya and Lilya hold hands
Nastya and Lilya on Saturday
This is Alex, he is an American missionary over here working with aged our orphans
This is a picture that Alex drew
Coby's cake at Cafe Fiesta for dinner Saturday night
Two boys with Alex on Saturday
Something Alex made
Lilya hugging Papa on Saturday
Lilya and Mama on Friday
Alex's room
Coby's "chipped potatoes" (aka French Fries) for dinner at Cafe Fiesta on Saturday night
The stairwell leading up to Alex's room
April's "frying pan chicken with potatoes" for dinner Saturday night at Cafe Fiesta - YUM!
Danny's borsch at Cafe Fiesta for dinner at Cafe Fiesta on Saturday Night - Double Yum!!
The bathroom that is outside of Alex's room - yuck! I can't wait to get him home so he can use a clean bathroom!
Nastya and Lilya making a heart with their arms
Saturday, the kids had class until 2:00, so we didn't go to the orphanage until then. Yep - school on Saturday. So, next time your kids complain about school - ask them if they want to go to school in Ukraine? :) We spent about 2.5 hours at the orphanage hanging out with Lilya and Alex and some of the other kids....Nastya (Lilya's friend - seems like this is her only friend.), Sergiy (the boy one of my best friends tried to adopt but he said no after they traveled there to get him), Sasha (another one of my friend's parents tried to adopt him and same thing - he said no when they traveled to get him), Dima, Vasia and a bunch of other kids that came and went. The iPad was a popular device! The kids LOVED Angry Birds....sigh! Angry Birds - I do not like Angry Birds! I'm afraid we created 6 little Angry Bird Monsters! Haha Then we handed out some candy, chap stick and some of our McLaughlin's 3+2 wrist bands. They loved the bands too!!!
Last night we ate at a restaurant called Cafe Fiesta.....oh my!!! That place was amazing!!! We have had borsch at every restaurant that we've eaten at and that borsch was by far the best we've had!! Here was what we had:
Danny: borsch, 1 sushi roll and coffe
April: chicken, potato and onion dish and bottled water
Coby: crepes with dessert sauce, "chipped potatoes" (aka French fries), bottled water and cake
Total cost, including tip: 225 grivna, approx $28
The "standard" tip here is 5-10% but I want our servers to be blessed and so we have consistently tipped 15-20%! I can't even imagine tipping 5-10%!
Sunday morning, Pastor John picked us up for church at New Hope Center. He is a Canadian missionary who has been here for five years. He started a church here and also started a Trade School for orphans that age out at 16. He is doing unbelievable work here. We had worship that was amazing! They were singing in Russian but to all the popular worship songs like "How Great is Our God" (Chris Tomlin), "How He Loves Us" (David Crowder) and Open The Eyes of My Heart. Since Coby I have been studying the Russian alphabet, we were even able to sing some of the verses in Russian! Unbelievable! Then a local translated the entire service for us. It was great!!! Afterwards, Pastor John and his wife had us over for lunch for some "leftover Thanksgiving" dinner! YUM!!! So, we ended up with some turkey after all!
After lunch, our driver took us to the orphanage and we spent some time with just Lilya, Alex and her friend Nastya. We didn't hang around any of the other kids today and while I really enjoy that (a lot) it was nice to just be with our kids!!! We played UNO, played with some cars, hit a balloon around and let them play on the iPad. We also saw some pictures that Lilya and Alex drew! Every time we come, they ask us, "Mama, Papa, internat (orphanage in Russian) tomorrow?" When we say, "Yes!!", their eyes light up and they get so excited!!! Oh my gosh, honey, of course we will come see you tomorrow! We wouldn't miss it for the world!!!!!
Pictures are out of order but it is too difficult to try and fix.... :(
This is a view outside of our apartment from the balcony - our building is identical to this one
Coby and Alex being silly on Saturday.
Coby, Nastya and Lilya in Alex's room on Sunday
A picture that Lilya drew
Coby, Alex, Lilya and Nastya on Saturday
Coby's crepes with dessert sauce at Cafe Fiesta for Dinner Saturday night
Vasia, Dima, Alex and Nastya playing the iPad on Saturday
Coby and Nastya playing the iPad on Sunday
This is a picture that Alex drew
Lilya and Mama on Friday
Alex's room
Coby's "chipped potatoes" (aka French Fries) for dinner at Cafe Fiesta on Saturday night
April's "frying pan chicken with potatoes" for dinner Saturday night at Cafe Fiesta - YUM!
The bathroom that is outside of Alex's room - yuck! I can't wait to get him home so he can use a clean bathroom!
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