Day 17 - Mark's Birthday

What a day. We started by getting picked up by Ilona and Kostya (and they had a birthday gift for Mark!) We headed to the US Embassy as Mark needed to sign some stuff as he will not be here when I take Sasha home. It’s so weird going up to the Embassy and literally hundreds of Ukrainian citizens are there hoping to get in so they can get a Visa to come to US. As Americans, we walk past all these people and go straight to head of line and right up to the front door. All the signs are in English – another plus. Then after going thru security there is another big mass of Ukrainians – and I guess we really stick out as Americans – as a guard touched our arm and pointed to another area for us, US citizens, to go. God bless America!

After that we had a nice lunch with Kostya and Ilona, then they dropped us off at the orphanage. Lots of the kids were coming home as we got there, but when we called Sasha she said she was still at school. Other kids continued to straggle in, but after close to an hour, still no Sasha. We noticed that Zhenya hadn’t come home yet either... Anastasia didn’t care as she met up with Viktor!

Finally through the orphanage gates came Zhenya and Sasha. They both had big goofy grins on their faces. As they got closer we could also tell that they reeked of men’s cologne. Turns out they had been shopping for Mark’s birthday gift and had tried many fragrances to get just the right one. It was precious watching them watch Mark open his gift. They each had bought a card for him (Sasha’s said “dad” on the front) and they got a gift bag to put it all in. It was really painful watching Zhenya watch Mark. He is a very special kid and I don’t know that he’s ever had a dad to buy a birthday gift for – but he sure was getting a kick out of giving this to Mark.

After that, Sasha said she was getting a soccer game together for Mark’s birthday. Zhenya and Sasha went in and changed, then we headed to the park. Sasha told us that Zhenya had been voted best goalie for his age in all of Kiev. He is an amazing player. Wonder what he could do with some regular encouragement from a mom and a dad.

So it was a great day. While we had really hoped to have already been home by today, we are so thankful that we were able to spend today in Kiev. We got to skype with all 3 kids at home today. Hopefully we’ll be home soon….

Here's some pictures from today - tons more are on facebook.

Mark having his birthday dinner.

Look at Zhenya and Sasha's faces. They so enjoyed watching Mark open his gift.


Sasha wanted to have her picture taken with dad and her present. The card says something like "Favorite dad" Anastasia translated - she said it for sure says "dad" and then something else "good" like favorite or special...

Even the older boys enjoyed watching Mark open his present

I loved this of Sasha checking in with us -

Sasha doing sit ups while hanging about 8 feet in the air off of this playground equipment. Also doing some pushups - while making sure we're watching her. These kids LOVE to have someone just watch. We've watched and cheered as they've jumped off logs, twirled sticks, climbed trees . . . they just need a little attention.


Mark playing soccer and basketball with Sasha, Zhenya and Maxim.


Zhenya with Anastasia (they were buddies when Anastasia was in orphanage) When the left the basketball courts, Zhenya noticed that Anastasia had left her purse so he picked it up to take to her. He is the kindest boy. Anastasia got "stuck" up on a piece of equipment and without making a big deal out of it, Zhenya went over and helped her down. He just has a really tender heart. He comes looking for us now which makes us sad, because we're not going to be here much longer. Zhenya is the same age as Anastasia - he's 13.

I love watching these kids interact with one another. Here's Maxim, Anastasia, Sasha, and VIktor. THey are walking, talking, sharing sunflower seed, and smelling some spray that Anastasia brought for Sasha.

Viktor and Anastasia just seem to be able to always find each other. They sat on the top of this playground equipment and talked for a long time. Viktor is lonely and told Anastasia he is all alone here - could she please help find him a family. Anastasia is feeling a burden for Viktor. She truly loves this kid - and it's going to be very hard to leave him here, all alone. God did not intend for him to live his life as an orphan.


these kids are SO BORED. they sit around a lot - just staring into space.




We were waiting at the orphange when the kids started coming home. I remember coming home from school as a kid. My mom was there to hear about my day, make me a snack, help with homework... so it made me sad watching these kids come home. There were very happy to see us - but typically they are greeted by no one as they arrive home from school. That's just not right.