Trip down memory lane

As we start thinking about Anastasia seeing her friends for the last time - we've been talking about the last time we thought it was the last time - when we took Anastasia out of the orphanage. Thought you might enjoy these pics of the last few minutes that Anastasia lived in the orphanage. There are a whole bunch more of the kids on our old blog - pics are in entries from Sept 05- Feb 06.

We had a big party for her class (at that point they had school on the orphanage grounds) on the day that Anastasia left the orphanage. You can see her teacher standing in the back. See Vadim on far right. He was very sad this day. It was heartbreaking to watch him. Well, Vadim just got back from Disney and lives about a mile from our house. Anastasia and Vadim go to the same school. I'm sure he'll be at our front door soon after Anastasia arrives home. They are still big buds. See Viktor right behind Zhenya. And Igor is in back - right behind Zhenya.

After the party, Anastasia has her coat on and it ready to leave. Zhenya is by her side (as he was most of the morning) Luda, Veronkia and Anya (Anya was sad that morning) for a last group pic. Igor is on far right - he was adopted recently by an Italian family.

This is right before we took Anastasia from orphanage - we thought for the very last time. Luda followed us out to the car. She wanted one more hug before we got in car. Luda's was the last face we saw as we left!

day 19 - more fun at the orphanage

Another beautiful day in Kiev. Mark took a translator (book not Anastasia) with him and was able to get FRUIT pastries this morning - yum!

We had fun at the orphanage. We hung out on the grounds for a while, then walked over to the playground again. They found some sidewalk chalk on the way, so spent some time playing with that. These kids are surprising as in some ways they are so wordly, but in other ways very immature and play with things (like pipecleaners and sidewalk chalk) that you wouldn't expect to entertain at 15 year old. At the playground we were once again brought to tears (I'm sounding sappy I know, but we really were) as Zhenya would physically lift Anastasia off equipment when she got stuck. At one point they were playing tag and she was "it" and could not for the life of her catch anyone, so Zhenya let her catch him.

Luda was funny too. She was finding places to hide while they were playing tag - but whenever she found a good spot she'd holler out to me "KEEEM" which would then give away her place. She has no trouble keeping up with the kids. They love to have us watch them and give them thumbs up or a wave when they do something cool - or when they just want someone to say "hey!"

When we got there today the younger kids were raking leaves and sticks into piles and digging holes. No clue what the holes were about cause after they dug them they filled them back in. The older boys weren't digging or raking, but they were continually being yelled at by the orphanage workers (we're guessing they were being told to dig and rake) but we could tell by their response, and lack of movement, that they declined.

Maxim and "little" Zhenya. Precious little faces.

It's sweet how the big kids take care of the little kids. Here is Yura giving a piggy back ride - so sweet.

These kids spend a lot of time just sitting....

People make fun of me always bringing pipecleaners everywhere (people at home - not these kids) but as you can see all ages were enjoying them.


Sasha likes detective books so Mark found her an Agatha Christy book in Russian today. She was very pleased to get it!


This game was very similar to our American Four Square (they even had the squares on the pavement) but they use thier feet instead of their hands!

Anastasia and Luda either had their arms around each other or were touching in some way most of the way to the playground. They know their time together here in Ukraine is coming to an end. Anastasia and Luda have spent time talking about what it would be like if they both lived in America with families. We think that would be really nice.

Sasha was very relaxed today. After playing tag through the playground with Yaroslav, Zhenya, Luda and Anastasia, she took a break. We wondered what she was thinking about as she lay there. On the way over to the playground the kids were talking about family, America, home, school.... (those are the words I could make out in Russian). Sasha was also telling them her name Sasha Bow-toe Grace (oops - that's Anastasia's middle name not hers). ANastasia did correct her. It's a bit confusing cause over here they say last name in the middle

Yaroslav and Zhenya checking out Anastasia's book.

this has turned into a really sweet spot where Anastasia gets into some pretty deep conversations with her buddies. A couple days ago she and VIktor sat up here for a long time. Today it was Anastasia and Zhenya. She said he asked her if she remembered going to Italy (they were hosted in Italy together one summer) and asked about some other stuff from when they were in orphanage together. THen he started asking her what it's like to have a family, what it's like to live in America.... then he told her that he too would like to live with a family. We don't even know who of these kids are available for adoption and who aren't. But I think for many of them who have been afraid to even dream of having a family, having "Nastya" back has given them some hope. They lived with her in the orphanage - she was an orphan - but she's an orphan no more. When she was in the orphange she said kids didn't talk much about their families. She said Sasha was the only one she ever talked to about family, but here on the top of this playset over the past few days, she's had some really deep conversations. We're praying big prayers here. We're praying that they all get families.

To Inna, Zhenya and Vadim

We've had requests from the kids back home for some books written in Russian. We spent quite a while at the bookstore this morning (after going to notary - that's progress!) selecting just the right books. It was difficult. In the kids book section they have books with pictures of kids (looking to be about 12-14) sipping cocktails. At checkout I saw some little books with child like designs on cover. THey looked like maybe they were joke books - so I was picking up a few for little treats for the kids back home. Then I noticed that on the cover of one was a guy grabbing the naked breasts of a woman - didn't buy that one either. Actually put all of those little books back.

So here's what we got. We found White Fang by Jack London (Bottom row on left) and Treasure Island (bottom row right). Anastasia helped us find those. I was also able to identify an Indiana Jones book all on my own. Tried to find some Chronicles of Narnia of Narnia for Luda - she loves those books, but they did not have any CS Lewis books in Russian - did have some in English though. Sasha likes detective books and Mark found an Agatha Christy book for her - I've never read them and hope they are suitable. I, Z and V if there are specific books you want - holler. They have all the Harry Potter books but didn't know if any of you wanted them. Sasha says she's already read them all as they had them in her school library (an advantage to the kids moving out of the orphanage school which had NO BOOKS to the public school).

Still need to pick up some Calamari for Zhenya. And Inna don't forget to call Sasha and tell her what you want! We're making tuna sandwiches for lunch then will head to the orphanage soon.

Day 18 - Carting (not to be confused with parking)

Thanks for all the birthday greetings yesterday! Donna - you must have told your whole office. Mark loved hearing from everyone. It's so great hearing from home.

Mark started the day early. Got up at 4am and got on skype with Rachel (who is home) and Carter to watch the NCAA game. we can't access it here but they put computer so he could watch it. he quit watching after half time as it wasn't much of a game. Since Mark was up so early, he went and got us some pastries. He asked the girl if they were fruit pastries - and she said "dah dah!" Well, he should have taken Anastasia with him. They were filled with carrots, onions, cabbage and some smelly sauce to keep it all together. Some friends said they sounded like egg rolls - I wish. I love egg rolls. I skipped breakfast this morning.

Yesterday when Ilona called Mark said she wanted to go "parking!" I said I doubted that is what she had said, even though it was his birthday, but he said he had her repeat it several times and he really thought she was saying parking. Turns out she was saying CARTING. So today we all met up (took us an hour to get there cause of the HORRIBLE traffic in Kiev) at this go cart place. There were 9 of us and it was super fun. Of course our driver, Kostya, won both rounds. The traffic in Kiev is great practice for this. Sasha is a wild woman behind the wheel and Anastasia was a lot crazier than she was this summer when we do go carts. It was a lot of fun.

When we got out of car today, one of the first things Sasha did was sniff Mark - to see if he was wearing his new cologne. He was - and I have a splitting headache to prove it! When he has it on - everyone in a one block radius can smell him.

After go carts, and fighting traffic back to apartment, Kostya dropped us off first. Sasha was sitting in front seat and she stuck her head back between the seats to get a kiss before I got out of the car. That's progress.

Sasha was telling me that she liked necklaces too (you know Anastasia bought one with Grandmother's money) so I said we could go get her one too - but she said she wanted to wait to get to America and get an American Gold Necklace. And she wants a different pendant on it than Anastasia's. We talked about a lot of different options - ans she's thinking maybe a soccer ball! That's my girl!

It's beautiful again today. 70's and sunny. Weird thing though, almost everyone still has their winter coats on. I don't get that. Also still don't get all the women in the 5 inch spike heels.

No pictures for today. Thought I'd give Sasha a break and not pull out the camera. But here's a picture from Saturday. We went to Fridays. Sasha looked adorable. She had on a camouflage hat we sent her months ago - with her ponytail out the back. this is the best I could do. I got lots of pics of the Fridays' menu.

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.

Day 16

well, it's sunday and we've waited to post, in case something really exciting happened. it didn't. mark watched some women's weight lifting today - so you get the idea - he was a little bored. Anastasia did several hours of homework. We went to Karen (the missionary we had dinner with this week) church. It was fantastic. Very intimate. We really enjoyed that. One of our favorite cab drivers, Viktor, took us and offered to come back and pick us up too. To make sure we had plenty of time, we told him to come back in 2 hours. Unfortunately the service wasn't' over yet - so we had to leave early.

We turned off the heat in some rooms in our apartment - that's exciting huh? it's real hard to regulate - it's either on or off.

Tomorrow is Mark's birthday. Sasha suggested we come to the orphnage and he can play soccer with her for his birthday! That sounded good to him.

I still haven't eaten that last package of instant oatmeal. I might give it to Mark for his birthday.

day 15

anastasia's grandmother gave her some money and she wanted her to buy a necklace here then come by and show her what we bought. Kostya took Anastasia, Sasha, Mark and me to a jewelry store and we found a beautiful necklace with "russian gold!" it's more of an orange gold then the yellow gold we have and supposedly it's "better." She also got a Russian symbol (don't know what you call it) to put on the chain. very nice and we think grandmother will be pleased. We spent about 1 hour in the car (traffic is HORRIBLE here) to get to a store probably about 10 miles away. So two hours total in the car and a 30 minute shopping trip.

We looked for jeans at the same place for sasha with no luck. then went to friday's for lunch - that was the girl's choice. Then shopped in about 6 stores near independence square for jeans. sasha has very specific ideas on what she wants... no luck there either. sasha finally said "no jeans - home." So we walked back to our flat - it was a 15-20 minute walk. the girls grumbled - a lot. but were very happy when we got to our flat. we just hung out (by then it was after 4pm) and sasha headed back to the orphanage a little after 6 as she wanted to get back before dark. We wanted to ride in taxi back with her - but she's an independent little thing and said she likes taking the bus. she does not like taking taxis. And there are TONS of buses around here.

I was sitting on the couch when she left and for the very first time - she came to me and gave me a hug and kiss before she left. Very very sweet. Anastasia continues to be a happy little camper. Yesterday she did say she was homesick - but she's happy today. SHe misses her family at home.

So we're bored... but it's almost 9 so maybe we'll go to bed early. had a big lunch, so we're not even eating dinner. Mark and I have been playing some game - mancala - but we keep messing up. This post reads as boring as we feel.... The weekends are hard over here cause no action on the adoption front.