At Last, another update

Hi Kaitlin and Rafaela :) from Yalta.

Hi All,

Sorry for the long absence, but we've been doing the Great Ukrainian Paperchase. First, there are new pictures I posted today, mostly of the girls.

To make a long story short (can't happen here), the court decree has some wording issues that other agencies didn't like. After getting them fixed, these other agencies were all messed up. The vital records didn't match the birth certificates and papers had to be changed, several times. Each time was a trip to Simperofol (2 hours each way) and one day was twice. We had to have the girls with us since we needed to get their passport photos done when we finished with the paperchase. Little to say that the girls didn't attend school all week except for Monday. We finally got the agencies to get their paperwork in order and got the passports ordered on Friday.

The passport paperwork is in Kiev today so we should have the passports by Thursday...God willing. Then train to Kiev and outprocess our embassy. Our original flights we set for the 9th but were cancelled by Delta so we rescheduled them for the 11th. Good thing because we can't make the 9th will all the paperwork delays.

It's been an eventful week...NOT. We've had the girls all night and all day and have somewhat a routine. Well, we did until today. They are back in school for the next three days so we get them up and ready. They go to school during the day and we'll pick them up after homework time to feed them at our place. They no longer sleep and bathe at the Internat. Legally they are ours and the director is allowing them to spend time in school while they can.

They are so eager to come home with us. There is no question that they want us as their parents and they as our children. It's a match made in heaven of which I can give numerous examples of why our setbacks led us to them. For now, each girl has laid claim to each of us. If the other girl spends too much time with their parent, it can get kind of ugly. While travelling, Olena gets car sick so we kept here in the middle seats of a Van and Sasha sat in the back (rough ride), usually with me. We would play some games or something to pass the time. This weekend it seemed that Olena had a melt down and I feel some of it was because Sasha spent a lot of time with me. Gotta find a way to keep things in balance until we can communicate better.

Sasha has gotten in the habit of just saying "Ne or Da" "Popi". I explained that this will not do and she needs to try and communicate better, even if in Russian. Now both of them go rambling on with me and I'm left bewildered half the time. We do manage to get our ideas across and they are becoming more patient with their communications. I feel good at where we are at but can't wait until this gets easier. We've been working on their English, but the environment is not overly conducive to learning English. Until recently, they were returning to the Internat every night and only spent 2 hours a day with us so we are not as far along as we had hoped. They both want to learn English but it takes time.

Last night, I worked with Sasha and Virginia worked with Olena on their English. When Sahsa had had enough, then it was time to teach Popi some Russian. I have to say I'm having a hard time with it, especially with some of their sounds. Speaking of language, Shelly, we're using an Ectaco ITravl with Russian-English. I ordered it online and they are expensive. It's supposed to speak as well as recognize both languages, but that part broke once we got here. Since I don't have real internet access, it's been a difficult process trying to get this fixed remotely. Right now, they want me to download a 300Mb file which I cannot do here so I'll wait till I get home. We decided to keep it and get it fixed because it's helping the girls spell Russian. It won't tranaslate a misspelling so they have to get it right. You can email me and I'll respond better when I get back to the US. Just a note: I've heard that there are new changes at the SDA starting today and that there has been a stop to all dossiers being accepted for the time being. I don't know the details and they may be accepting again, but just thought I'd pass that on. This info is a few days old.

Devin, we did get the first set of photos but haven't gotten any since. Please wait until we are home to send us more because we can't view them half the time. Their computers are tempermental and I never know when I can see attachments or not. We look forward to seeing more pictures and mostly getting to see you all again. When we hit our shores, we'll give you a shout.

There are so many things to say but like usual, just don't have time to say it all. Though we, as expected, have some issues with the girls (and who doesn't), they are small. We have two wonderful girls who are healthy, smart and loving. We couldn't have asked for more and are definately more (in a good way) than I had expected. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, they are really excited to meet family. We've shown them pictues of what I brought with me and they get a charge from them. Everytime they see a program on TV, they ask if it's America. Then we have to explain that America is big and there are lots of places that are not Nevada.

Grandpa, they are excited to have a grandpa. They have asked about you several times. Since these girls have only been in the Internat for 2 years, they've had a family life before here. We don't know what that life held for them, but they seem ready to move on and happy to be in our family. They know we aren't leaving Alupka yet, but they were packing their suitcase yesterday. They kept out just enough cloths to hold them over till we travel. They even packed their toys saying that they won't need them until after the travelling. It's very cute. They are adorable and I think you'll take to them quickly. We'll just have to keep Sasha from climbing all over you :). Virginia refers to her as our "Little Monkey".

We've already bonded very heavily to these girls and they are getting there with us. They also look after each other as well. Sasha was sick the other night and Olena told Papa that she would take care of her and did all the comforting. I usually like to spend the last few minutes of the evening carressing their foreheads to help them settle down and get to sleep. Not that night, Olena was playing mother hen. They do trust us which is a very important step to begin with. It's already feeling like a family and others have mentioned that we already look like a family.

Moose, are you working out. If not, keep the tylenol handy because Sasha will literally climb up you to get on your shoulders. No kidding; she's a nimble little thing and quick too.

Well, since I can't remember what I really wanted to say, I'm going to sign off which will spur the memory and I'll post it later if I have the chance.

Love and miss you all,

Chris and Virg