Day 5

Well, we made it through another day, whew!
Seriously I don't know who issues driver's licenses here, but someone sure needs to lose their job. If Disneyland could create a ride that would allow you to experience sitting in the back seat of a car and driving full speed, while dodging potholes, people and dogs it would be a huge attraction. Goodness gracious it's absolute craziness. David tells me to just keep my eyes closed and put my hands in my pockets and to just breathe slow and deep while in the car.
We were able to sleep in a bit this morning, which was nice, even though I am still waking up way too early. Anyway, we had planned to visit the boys around 2pm, but about 1pm or so Oksana came into our room and mentioned we needed to leave immediately to go and sign MORE papers, sheesh the paperwork is also outrageous, but it is a necessary process which will get us one day closer to getting the boys. We went to the courthouse, but on the way we were told the judge was on vacation and it would be a miracle if there was another one there to sign our papers. We finally arrived, barely, and guess what? There was another judge that just happened to be there working, in fact Wendy, Oksana mentioned it was the same judge that signed your paperwork. YAY! We KNOW our Heavenly Father is guiding us through this whole, amazing process.
Afterwards we headed over to the Sanatorium, found the boys, which by the way they were wearing the exact same clothes and smelled just the same as they did the day before, so if the pictures look as if they were taken all on the same day, trust us they weren't. I can't hardly wait to scrub them clean and brush their teeth, ohhh. We had a few hours to spend with them and they mentioned they would like to get something to eat, so pizza was the choice made by all. While walking to the pizzeria we passed a huge crate of beer bottles, Ruslan mentioned that they use the bottles to keep warm at night. They fill them with hot water and put them around their little bodies to keep warm. Yes, it just about broke our hearts when we heard this and Ruslan could tell, so he quickly replied, "it's okay mama, no problem." They really try to diminish their living conditions, such amazing young men. Finally we arrived and ordered the boys pizza, "yummy, yummy," was all Bogdan kept saying. They devoured their pizzas and they were good sizes too. We didn't think they were going to be too hungry in that they had just eaten their afternoon lunch, but apparently their lunch consisted of 7 small, hard apples...yummy, yummy, not.
We then took them to the super market where they played a couple of video games and it also got us out of the cold. While there we bought them a little bit of chocolate to eat later and as we were checking out Ruslan asked if we could buy one more piece for his friend, he mentioned this friend of his "protects" him from the bigger boys and he wanted to get him a little something to thank him. Can you believe it? My mother hen instincts kicked in and I wanted to have him tell me who these boys were and trust me THEY would need to "hire" protection, if you know what I mean. But of course I didn't say this or act on it because it would only make their situation worse. We then walked back home through the maze of apartment buildings and trust me if you ever got lost in there you would never make it out alive, so scary and confusing. We dropped them off, gave them big hugs and then went and waited for our driver, George, to pick us up.
We ended up going to the wrong pickup spot so we turned back around and passed the Sanatorium again where we noticed Ruslan outside with a group of boys, he came over to the fence and greeted us, but was very aloof. Oksana mentioned afterwards that he has to put on a "tough" persona, because the other boys are more then likely jealous of him and his situation so he needs to act like it is no big deal. If he were to be too excited they would have to "humble" him. You could tell that he wanted to be close to us even through his tough exterior, it was hard to walk away.
We arrived back at the apartment and I fell asleep for a few hours and now I am wide awake, darn it. I want to get on a solid sleep schedule that David seems to be on with no problem. Oksana, our facilitator, went back to Kiev tonight, but we still have Oksana, the translator, with us. She and I are becoming close friends, I absolutely adore her. Before Oksana left she mentioned that the judge signed our paperwork and we are scheduled to be in court on the 18th of this month so it looks as if David will be able to make his flight home on the 21st. Apparently there is still TONS of paperwork that still needs to be finished before court, so please pray that it will all be processed and signed before the 18th. THANK YOU!!!
We love and miss you all more then you will ever know. THANK YOU for your prayers and words of encouragement, besides being with the boys it is the highlight of our day to read your comments. Thanks to those of you who have our children, we know they are safe with you, man do we miss them. Loves to all!!! Kisses!!