30 Oct Update

First, Happy Birthday John.

I didn't expect to be posting today so I didn't prepare any more photos. I posted a link to the right for where the photos are and here is the link: http://www.pbase.com/higgmeister/adoption

Thank you MamaPoRuski for the insight.

We are waiting for the Mayor of Yalta to sign the conclusion so we can apply to the court for our hearing. We're hoping it's this morning but I'm not holding my breath. Irina showed us how to get into Yalta on the bus from our small town. It's larger than a village by my standards and would call it a small town of about 8K +- people. We haven't had an opportunity to check out this town yet.

As mentioned before, this region is beautiful with high mountains on the North strongly sloping to the sea to the South. Our flat is on the North most side of the town so it's a walk to reach the beach which we'll explore once the girls are off fall break. Our bedroom window looks into the forrest with a stream flowing gently below the house. It's quiet except for all the animals and leaves rustling. It's a bit rustic for most but we are fine with the conditions. The stove is outside because these flats are mostly used during the summer tourist season. This morning, I awoke to see a dark blue sky behind a golden crown of mountains shimmering through the trees. I'm glad we moved and Virginia will be glad too once we remove all the spiders in the flat (she's arachniphobic (sp)).

We feel very lucky, not paperwork wise, but people wise. The director in charge of the orphans and the helpers like us so we've had opportunities that I'v not read about with other families. Other than the first meeting, we've been able to spend plenty of time with our girls. Last Friday was the end of school for a week so on Saturday, we were able to pick up the girls and take them to Yalta for the day. Same with Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Now that we are here, they allow the girls to come over to our flat so we can play, eat or whatever. We're nearly done shopping for the girls and have most of what we will need for them while here. For those who've adopted from Ukraine know, a family usually can't get the kids off the grounds until after the court hearing and only then with a representative. The paperwork may be going slower than anticipated, but the bonding is happening really quickly because we spend so much time with them. They now only call us Mama and Papa/i and Irina is Ira, not Mama any more.

Yesterday, we did several things at our flat. One was to show the older one (almost user her name, oops) how to spell her name in our latin alphabet which she did as well as Mama and Papa. She drew our family and made some comments. What a sweetheart. She wants so much to learn and is like a sponge. Actually, both are like sponges. I'll humm a diddy to myself and next thing I know I'm hearing it back from them. The younger one is very curious about everything and is always asking Irina questions about whatever, almost as though she likes hearing herself. Typical girl...:). The other thing we did was view some of the pictures the girls had taken. They remember who took what and where so it reiforced those memories they created. I feel that when they view these pictues in the future, they will hold positive memories.

I must also once again apologize for my bad spelling. Virginia usually proofs my work but her and Irina are out shopping for groceries and whatever they shop for.

I could keep typing but I must check my business email since I haven't had time to lately. The ladies get impatient with me regarding posting. They have no idea as to why it takes so long to post and check email. Then, they've never worked on these systems before either.

Cheers for now,

Chris and Virginia