Tomorrow is the Day!

Hi All,
We woke up in a pretty good mood today knowing that court is tommorrow at 10:00 am! Everyone please say a little prayer today that the 30 day waiting period is waived for us tommorrow. I honestly don't know how I will be able to handle that if they don't waive the waiting.

Ray is still coughing and probably has bronchitis but he started on the amoxicillian we brought with us and is on the road to recovery. Somehow he managed to get cold medicine from a drugstore for me when I was so sick on Saturday and I am feeling much better also. Hopefully that was our bout of sickness for the trip. After not being able to visit the boys on Saturday because I was so sick, when I went on Sunday I got big hugs from them. I really missed not seeing them for a day.

Riley surprised us today by strapping on a pair of roller blades and skating like you wouldn't believe. He was really good at it. It's amazing how athletic these boys are. They can throw balls and kick like crazy. We've been seeing some stubborness in Riley and some teasing of his little brother but that is to be expected. They don't like to be told no and Jake is good at a little pouting and crying act. Things will probably be a little rough the first few months until we get to know their personalities and they know how far to push us. But they are really good boys. Especially compared to some of the other terrors at the orphanage!

Jake has a big "goofy gene" in him will will fit right in to our family. For those of you who know Ray and I, goofy is part of our lives! Jake makes faces and does these silly walks that just crack us up. I am very sad that I don't know anything Jake is saying because I am sure he is funny. Riley has his moments of silliness, but he is older and more serious than his brother.

We assume that our facilitator, Tatiana, will be showing up tonight or maybe early morning for court on Tuesday. Her son, Sasha, calls us from Kiev every couple of days to let us know what is going on. Sasha is the translator that originally met us at the airport with her and is excellent at English. I guess we didn't really spell out that our tranlator, Luba, is not here in Kharkiv with us. She left on Saturday, the 20th because she took a job as an au pair in Norway with a family and had to leave. So we have been here on our own since then and just relying on Ray's Russian. I was kind of scared to be left all alone in this city without anyone who speaks English or anyone close by to help us, but we have managed pretty well. People try to talk to me and I just shrug and say "English" and they realize I don't know what the heck they are saying!

I keep thinking about how strange I feel in a country where I don't know what is being said or going on, and then I wonder how Jake and Riley are going to feel when the come home with us. But I guess kids probably can adapt more easily. Ray says "Hi Buddy" to the boys and they repeat "Hi Buddy" to him. Riley is especially starting to answer things in English, like yes, no, thank you, please, etc. Also, kids don't really need to speak the same language to pick up some toys and play with each other.

Well, time to go to the Market and pick up a few more things before tommorrow. I am sure that shopping with the boys will be much more difficult, so we want to get a few things. I hope when we get back to Kiev to buy some handmade Ukranian items and things of Ukranian nature to bring home with us. It was hard enough just dragging Ray along when I am shopping, three guys is going to be really rough!

Hopefully tommorrow the boys will be officially our sons and we will be back on our way to Kiev. Pam and Ray