Shopping Adventure

After breakfast we set off to the Toy Store and then the market. The toy store is about 5 blocks past the market. We found another dinosaur egg for Alexander and a puzzle for our entertainment. I had checked out and mother was getting a domino set, when the electricity went out. While Jacob and I were waiting on Mother we checked out the upstairs and lo and behold what do we find but shoes and clothes. I wish we had already explored the upstairs before now but it is just great to be able to find what you are really looking for. I told Jacob to go downstairs and tell Grandma to come upstairs. We previously had Alex try on Jacob’s shoes to see if they would fit and they were a little big but would be ok. So we knew if they were long enough they should fit Alex. A very helpful clerk helped us even though there was the language problem. We found a pair of shoes, which ended up only being about $16 US and then she helped us with a coat. Now we knew that was going to be the big expense. We found a very nice coat, with lots of pockets for about $90 US. Then I asked about underwear. How do you say under garments in Ukrainian? Well we got our meaning across and found what we were looking for. There were several people in line with us and of course the computer/cash register was not working because the electricity was still off. And we did not have enough Hryvnia (Ukrainian money) to pay for the shoes, coat and underwear. The shoes were 156 Hryvnia, underwear 10 Hryvnia and the coat was 756 Hryvnia. (The exchange rate is 8.20 Hryvnia to $1.00) Well between Mother and I we had a little over 400 Hryvnia and even though they took Visa, there was no electricity. So we asked them to hold the coat and I would come back. Then to the market to pick up some things, oh I have been meaning to mention that they have a whole isle with just chocolate on it. Ukrainians love chocolate. Then back to the apartment dropped off Mother and our purchases. Jacob and I got our US money and potty break and then headed back down the stairs. We exchanged our money. The Hryvnia keeps going up. I know that is good for us but bad for the Ukrainians. We were able to walk fast since Mother wasn’t with us. I wanted to check out another store only to find that their electricity was off as well. It looked like an appliance store. Then we headed over to the toy store, to find their electricity was back on and purchased the coat. When we got outside I asked Jacob if he wanted to do anything else, he said he wanted to go look at the flea market, which was very close. We said we would look just in the front part, so we would not get lost. Jacob found a pretty scarf for Grandma. We look for a few more minutes then head apartment home. I took a different way and found some other people selling cross stitch tablecloths, shirts and dollies and few other craft things. I told Jacob we needed to bring Grandma back to show her. Well by now Jacob is getting very tired and very cold. I quit looking and walk quickly back to our apartment.

When we got back it was already 2:00pm and little time to do school. Had lunch and read a bit. Our visit with Alex (his pet name is Sasha) went well. He was excited with the new dinosaur egg and played with that a lot. He is still responding well to learning new words. I had written down in Russian that we were going to bring him clothes and shoes in a few days and take him to America. I don’t know if he got all of the meaning but I think he got the most of it. It seems that the hour and half is flying by now and we had to leave. Jacob is anxious to be able to play with him all day. When we got outside to go to the taxi you definitely tell the temperature had dropped. Back in the apartment is cool and I am thankful we have an electric heater as well as the radiators. After supper I started our new puzzle, Mother started listening to Sense and Sensibility on my ipod and cross stitched, and Jacob watched a Star Wars movie. Just a few more days. You can tell I am wanting to come home. I hope I haven’t been to boring. I am very thankful for all of your prayers.

FYI - Be sure to check out Mother's blog. She will really keep up to date if I haven't. Also I have added more pictures to photo link.

Good News on Homestudy

Richard went yesterday to the Immigration office USCIS. He had already been up there once at got the run around that it would take five days. When he got home he called our congressman and was immediately helped. He had to fax them a permission statement on our behalf and they emailed him a special appointment wavier. He had to have our originial homestudy and our ammended homestudy. He meet with Susan from our adoption agency and got the ammended homestudy and he already had the originial. So yesterday morning he went in to the USCIS and did not have any problems. YEA! They said in three days, by Thursday, the US Embassy here in Ukraine should have our ammended homestudy. That is one thing that we do not have to worry about. We just have to tackle, I mean our hardworking translaltor Ira, the new birth certificate, new Ukrainian passport and tax i.d. number. We will keep you posted when we know something. Tomorrow we are going to take a tour of Kherson, with our faithful taxi driver and take pictures. This is a small city and should only take an hour. Thats all for now.

Also check out the pictures link. I have download more pictures.

Little Snow and Cold, Cold Weekend

Saturday

After breakfast we headed to the market. I had seen a backpack at one of the downstairs vendors, this is below the market. There was a red and gray backpack with soccer player on it. I thought that would be appropriate for Alexander to put things we had brought him as well some clothes. Mom and I found some unusual ornaments as well. We then bought our food items at the market and headed home. Ira thought it best not to go to the Boarding School, so we stayed. Also because it is so cold. We made beef stew for supper and watched a movie, worked on a puzzle, Mom knitted on a baby blanket and read book. We are definitely counting the days until Ira comes on Thursday. We have asked her to take us to the Flea Market to get shoes and a coat.

Sunday

Mom is usually the first one up and this morning was no exception. Jacob and me we a little later in getting ourselves out of bed. After breakfast we started our bible study and worship services. It is times like this when we really miss the singing and fellowship with our brothers and sisters at Embry Hills. We had a quiet day inside, though about 2:00pm it started to snow. It wasn’t a heavy snow but by 3:30pm you could see a good dusting of snow on the ground. Ira called to see how we were doing and to let us know that the cleaning lady was coming tomorrow. We will need to get up and be ready because we do not know what time she will get here. This has been long and quiet day.

Monday

Mom has been nursing the sniffles for the past few days. I keep after her to take Echinacea. She is taking it but I feel she should take it several times a day. I have been very careful about taking care of ourselves. The minute one of us has a runny nose or tickle in their throat I say Echinacea alert. We have had enough left over’s that we were able to avoid going to the market, though tomorrow we will have to get some milk. We straighten up for the cleaning lady and by 12:00pm she was here. She really did a good job. She spent over 2 hours cleaning this small apartment. The manager came by with new sheets and towels as well. Our visit with Alexander went well today. We had gotten a dragon egg transformer from the toy store and he really liked it. He was saying no, oh no, asked about shoes and gloves. It appears that he is already trying to learn English. We will keep trying with things that he is familiar even with the PSP. We have finished the train puzzle, mother has finished the baby blanket that she started back when we were in first in Kiev and almost finished all our books. Tomorrow Jacob and I are going back to the toy store to get another puzzle for us and dinosaur egg for Alexander.

Observations of Boarding School Life

This is what I have seen and maybe not accurate. The older children at the boarding school (children less than 16) have been tilling up the soil around trees on different areas of the school yard. Some areas look to be 1/3 of acre. They are using a shovel or bent rake. It has taken them about 3 days, after school to do just one section. Other age children are also responsible for sweeping all the leaves up off all the grass as well as the sidewalks. They use an old fashion corn broom to sweep the leaves on to a sheet and deposit them elsewhere. We have just seen what it is like just for late fall early winter time. All the children are on a strict schedule. From breakfast, snack, school, nap time, play time, and bed time. The children have their own locker area (w/o locks) where they keep their coats, mittens, hats & personal belongings. The children have one towel on their personal peg in the bathroom. If a child visits his parents whose home is very undesirable and unclean, when the child gets back to the boarding school he/she will get a buzz hair cut to prevent spread of any suspected lice. The children only have a couple of outfits to wear; it even seems that they share most of their clothing, which has been handed down one too many times. These children do not have a choice when and what they will do. These children do seem happy and smile a lot. The caretakers all seem very caring though keep them well under control. The buildings are warm and though not fancy are comfortable (at least what we have seen). There are a lot of renovations being done on the outside of the buildings that we see as we pass by. The children that are about 6 yrs old have been very entertaining. Today seemed to be the highlight. These children’s living area is right off the alcove that we play with Alexander. We say high to them as the pass by and they are very interested in us. They perform for us, talking very animated and love the attention we give them. I told mother today if we had a movie camera we could be on America Funniest home videos. When the little ones came back in from playing outside one of the more exuberant girls came up to me to feel her cold cheeks. I felt her cheek and went burr. Then a couple more wanted me to so the same thing. Then the teacher came and shooed them back into their room and she closed the door their stood a little boy that had been hiding behind the door. We motion for him to go. He looked like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. We just laughed!

Richard is Home

Richard plane arrived last night around 9:30pm but he said that it was a miserable trip. The flight from Kiev to Atlanta was 100% filled and Delta even turned away some people. He counted 16 kids under three years old in his section of coach and 10 ½ of the 11 hours of flight had at least 1 of the children screaming. Needless to say he was pretty worn out by the time he got to New York. Then on top of this when the plane landed they did not have an open airside for the plane to disembark. The plane sat on the tarmac for over 35 minutes before the airport decided to have the plane park where it was and to send out a bus for the passengers. Well they only sent out one bus and it could not fit everyone on board. So the remaining 1/3 of passengers were waiting another 25 minutes for the bus to come back. While they waited the power went out on the plane and only the security lights were on. Finally they were able to get on the bus and unload to customs. Once he got thru all of the customs and duty part he made a bee line to Burger King. A hamburger never tasted so good he said. He was fortunate because of all the delays that he did not miss his connecting flight like some people did. He boarded the flight from JFK and it left the gate right on time only to sit on the tarmac for 25 minutes before taking off. The pilot made up the time in the air and arrived on time in Atlanta. Nanette was planning on picking him but do to her eye surgery that she had that morning she was not available. Nanette had three tears in her retina and it was starting to detach, so of course she had to have surgery as soon as possible. I called sweet Donna B. She and David Lee came to Richard’s rescue and pick him up at the airport. Richard is doing well today.

We have found out that our updated homestudy that I sent before we left Atlanta was never received by USCIS. Our old homestudy only showed that we were approved for a child up to 5 years old. We have to have the homestudy reflect at least the age of the child that we are adopting or older. If this is not correct the child will not be able to get US passport. Richard called our adoption agency and then the local USCIS office. The USCIS told him that it could take up to 5 – 7 days to process the documents. Well this would be a problem for us. He then called our congressman and got immediate help. Richard is going down to USCIS office on Monday and hand delivering the original homestudy and amended homestudy. Once that is done it goes to New Hampshire (I believe homeland security office) then they will cable the US Embassy here in Ukraine. With the congressman’s help this should be done by Thursday of next week. Our prayer is that the Lord may continue to give us patience, strength, perseverance and a God like attitude over the next two weeks to face our new challenges.
Thank you Donna and David Lee for picking up Richard.

Waiting and Routine

We are back in the routine again and waiting game. Richard got to Kiev ok and then ran around to get the paper work done with the Embassy and a power of attorney, so that I can sign for him to do the rest of the paper chase. Our energizer bunny, translator Ira got him an apartment off of Independence Square for a good price. He said he slept well even though he left the noise maker here with us. He really misses his fan back home. He had a free day today, he went back to the Coffee House that we had eaten at while we were all there. He said that he found out how to get scrambled eggs. You order an omelet and they bring scrambled eggs. I guess that makes sense. He is leaving his apartment at 8:45am to have plenty of time to get to the airport and to go thru security. It hit me harder than I expected yesterday with Richard leaving. I was really missing him and feeling like when will it be our turn. After a good night’s sleep things are looking better. We are visiting Alexander everyday at 3:00pm to 4:30pm. It seems the last few times that we have visited it is nap time for the children. Today they were stirring and we finally saw Alexander. He meet us in the little visiting room. It seems we are getting closer everyday even though there is a language barrier. We also need to buy him clothes. He will not be able to take any of the clothes or shoes that he is wearing. I measured him yesterday and drew a outline of his foot, in hopes of buying him some clothes at large market that Ira told us about. Well we struck out today to find the place. We did find the right street, which was not far from the market that we have been shopping at. The street also has the Toy Store, which we have been as well. Further down the street, where the streams of people are coming and going is this huge, huge flea market, with numerous venders. They were selling everything there from vegetables, shoes, Christmas decorations, plumbing supplies and anything else you could think of. It was also a maze and we soon found ourselves turned around and could not find a way back the way we came. We did find slippers for Alexander but could not find his size pants or coats. I am sure that they have his size clothes but we did not know where to look and since we do not speak Ukrainian or Russian we couldn’t ask. Clothes are expensive here. We saw a boy’s sweater that would cost us $100. I am thinking that maybe Alexander can get by with some of Jacob ‘s clothes until we get back to Georgia. We do need to find some shoes though. We are going to try again and I hope that we can get some help from our translator when she comes back next Thursday. Well after being turned around many times, because there are many entrances into the flea market area, we decided to get a taxi. Luckily Mother had Ira write down our apartment address on a card. Well that was all we needed and off we go into the taxi. By the time that we get down to the second street I knew where we were and maybe, just maybe we would have been alright. But Mother has a heel spur now and is not doing well with a lot of walking. This was the most walking that she has done for the last few weeks, so I knew we need to get her back home quickly. So our adventure continues and we count the days until Friday, the 19th. Ira is coming back Thursday morning to get a head start on the paper chase.
Thank you for all words of encouragement.

Oh, Happy Day!!!

Our new addition,

Alexander Phillip Counts

Mother and I got up at 7:00am, so I could shower and be ready on time. Richard had a harder time getting himself together this morning. He said that he kept going over in head what he would say to the Judge at our court hearing today. Well we (Richard, Ira and Aimee) are all ready to leave about 20 minutes after 9:00am and head down to our faithful taxi driver. Our appointment is at 10:00am. The Judge’s court room is very close and in fact we could have walked but Ira had to drop us off and then go and pick up the Lawyer and Inspector. The court building looks like many of these other buildings. It is not new and probably was built in the 1950’s, at least it appears that way. I would have never guessed that this was a court house if I wasn’t shown. It has not been renovated in a long time. The foyer is small and there are security guards there but they are not asking us to have our bags put through a scanner like back home. There are over 7 floors to this building and one small elevator. The elevator will only hold so much weight. There were a group of ladies in front of us waiting to getting on the elevator but when it was their turn a couple of them had to get off because there was too much weight. When finally got on the elevator which did not ride smoothly. I felt a couple of times that it would get stuck or drop us. We get off the elevator to a long narrow hall, filled with lots people waiting to see some official person. There is a long bench down the narrow hall. I wonder where we are going to stand or sit but Ira takes us past the first group of people to where there is a door in front of the bench. There is room for Richard and I to sit and wait till she gets back with the Lawyer and Inspector. By the time she returns it is about 10:00 but the Inspector has not arrived. The Inspector is a very busy woman, she has a whole jurisdiction to service, so she is running late, but we are very grateful to have our court hearing today. The Inspector arrives about a quarter past 10 and goes into the Judge’s chamber. Then just a few minutes later they ask us to come in. It is a big relief that we do not have to go into a court room and we can just be in the Judge’s chamber. (A side note Ira has also asked the Judge, which she agreed that Alexander did not have to come to court. The Director of the Board School statement would be sufficient. The Director had brought Alexander into his office along with his teaches and caregivers and had asked Alexander several questions to make sure that he wanted to be adopted.) The Judge ask us a few questions like, do we want to adopt Alexander, did the visitation with Alexander go well, who we are, what do we do for a living, have we been informed of the child’s health, do we have a house and how many rooms. Then the Judge started reading the documents pertaining to Alexander and that his name would be changed to Alexander Phillip Counts. The prosecution said they did not have any questions and agreed for the adoption. There is complete agreement and we are pronounced parents to Alexander. I start to cry, the Inspector and Ira hug us and we head out to the hall way. It has been such a long time to get to this moment, that the joy and relief have over whelmed me. This meeting took all of 20 minutes. Yea!!! We walk down the 6 flight of stairs to our faithful taxi driver and head over to the boarding school for Ira to draw up more documents to get the new passport and birth certificate started. This takes about an hour and Richard and I wait in the taxi. Ira is concerned about the new rules the SDA is requesting now and wants the doctor at the hospital to make another report. So off we go to the hospital, and in a small town it is not very far. We are very fortunate that Alexander was born here in Kherson and not in another town. If that been the case we would have to travel there and the process would take longer because of the travel for us and Ira. Ira and the lawyer go into the hospital, Richard and I wait in the taxi. They were gone about 30 minutes, then we need to find a office supply store. They do not have yellow pages here, so we are on a hunt for the office store. The first two attempts are not successful, then taxi driver gets on the phone to ask a friend, and wala he finds it. Ira and I go into buy copy paper for the school, to replace what she has used. Ira has to go back to see the Inspector and well as couple things, so the taxi driver drops Richard and I off to the apartment. We are happy, excited and relieved that this process is winding down. Richard is now headed back to Kiev on the overnight train and well stay a couple of nights there. He will need to go the US Embassy on Tuesday and he flies out on Thursday. We need your prayers that our process for Alexander’s passport, birth certificate and tax i.d. number will be done speedily, so we come home before December 31st. Maybe by Christmas. I know that the previous post said that we might be leaving on the 18th but that is not the case. We have to wait until the 10 days are up to get the new passport, birth certificate and tax i.d. number. This could take up to a week. We are hoping that this is done as quickly as possible. Especailly before the New Year when Ukraine starts their holiday celebration and close their offices for a week. Of course we would like to be home by Christmas but we will have to see. So now we three are here to wait out the 10 days and will visit Alexander everyday. May the Lord give us patience over these next few days and bless all of you.

Easy Going Saturday

It is hard to believe we have been here 26 days. It seems that we have been here for a lot longer. I know that we have less than 3 weeks before we get home but it still feels very far away. I am keeping myself busy, between Jacob’s school work, going to the market, fixing our food and the most dreaded -the washing clothes. I know I am missing a step on the washing machine that came from Italy but have not figured it out. The washing machine does take about 2 hours to run. It leaks and fortunately the bathroom where the machine is has a tiled floor. The spin cycle if there is one does not seem to work very well. When the machine finally stops the clothes are still very wet and there is water in the bottom of the washer. I then play the switching game. I start out by having the clothes or sheets drip there excess water on the balcony with the clothes line. The balcony has two windows that open to the outside. But we have had very few windy days. I have found that if we open other windows in the apartment it does create a cross breeze to help with the ventilation on the balcony. After the clothes have stopped dripping I then start putting them on the radiators. We have three radiators that I can put clothes on. I then start checking them about every hour and flip, rotate or exchange clothes on them. I definitely miss my washer and dryer at home. Some of the apartments have clothes lines hanging outside their windows, where they can get more breeze and dry things faster. There is also a clothes line on the grounds behind our apartments but I don’t know if they belong to someone in particular plus there seems to be a lot of dirt blowing around which I would not want our clothes to have. On the other hand I am finding that our clothes smell musty because they have been wet so long. Well enough of the saga of the washing of the clothes.

The picture above is the main door to our four flights of stairs apartment builiding. The bottom picture is our apartment building. Our apartment is the one with the rug hanging out.

Our court date is this coming Monday at 10:00am. Horray!!!! Then the 10 day waiting period starts. It will end on the 18th. We should be taking the overnight train to Kiev on the 18th. Our facilitator Gregory says they are going to try very hard to get us home before Christmas. We are praying that this can be done.
Our translator said that it would be better for us not to visit our new boy today or tomorrow. This is because his mother has been to visit and our translator does not want us to have a run it with her. Or cause any problems between our new boy and his mother. We have had a good day today. Jacob got his school work done quickly, and then we walk to a nearby park, which is more like a huge walking garden type park. It was very peaceful and relaxing. We say several families, grandparents or mothers walking with their small children. They were not in a hurry like you would see on the street. They were there just to have a place for their children to play and relax. We did not see many children older than 5, which I don’t understand, unless they are in a board school. After our walk we picked up mother from our apartment, exchanged some more money then went to a pizza place that has pretty good pizza. We came back the apartment and I started rotating the laundry and getting Richard ready to leave on Monday. We finished our day with a round of Hand and Foot. Our facilitator will be here in the morning around 10:00am. It late here around 11:30pm. Well I better get to bed.

Things still going well

When we came into the living quarters today, where we normally come, the children where making these cone shape Santa Clauses. They were very detailed for kids this age. The teachers seem to really take pride in the children's acitivities. There is a wonderful winter collage that the children have made together. It looks like the background was painted first, then the children cut out snowmen, trees, houses, snowflakes etc. I want to get a good picture of it before we leave. This picture to the right is another really neat picture. I am not sure when this was made. Our new boy seemed subdue today but not sure why. Maybe there is something in the air, since the rest of us are too. He could be missing our translator, who has been in Kiev for the past few days. I know that his teaches have told him what is going on but our translator and him have become close over the past few days. We are hoping that his mother, who still comes to visit him occasionally, will not cause him any problems. We did run into the mother, well sort of run into the other day. She was sitting in a corner of one of the rooms as we walked by. The children's caretaker was ushering us quickly into the room we play with our new boy and not until our translator told us later did we know that it was her. She d0es not have any parental rights because they have been taken away. Once the parental rights have been taken away they can't be reinstated. We hope that our time with him over the next few weeks will increase our bond with him and his trust in us. I also wanted to show you our translator Ira. She could be the president of Ukraine or negoiate a peace treaty for a country. She will ask anyone and I believe if she had to the president of Ukraine for help with our paper work. We definitely could not have accomplished everything that has been done without her.

I have also posted new photos.

Hope to have good news about our appointment tomorrow. Till tomorrow.

Life in Kherson

We have gotten into a routine here in Kherson. We get up and eat breakfast, and then Jacob starts on his school work. We have about realized that we will need to go to the market almost every day. This is not bad, because it gives us a chance to get out. We do plan out our meals for eat day but we also do not want to buy too much because we have to carry it back to our apartment, up four flights of stairs. One of the things we run out of the fastest is beverages. Richard loves Cola Light, which is similar to Diet Coke, and since he is a diabetic it is working out for him. Since it gets dark here by 4:30pm we don’t want to be going to the market after dark. This city is a port off the Black Sea and there are all kinds of people, such as sailors here. Our translator told us not to venture out after dark. We all want to be on the computer to email (mother is the email queen), blog, play a game, make phone calls, etc. So we are trying to work out different times of the day to get on the computer. Our translator has gone back to Kiev to submit documents to the SDA. She should be back here in Kherson by Saturday or Sunday. She made arrangements for a taxi driver to pick us up every day at 3:00pm and takes to the boarding school. Then at 4:30 he comes back and takes us to our apartment. Our new boy is always excited to see us. We usually bring him some candy, puzzles, coloring books, toy etc. We end up playing with the PSP most of the time. Our translator said that this is all very new to him and to let him experience it for now. After we get back to our apartment we fix supper, like last night we had chicken spaghetti, peas, bread, and hot tea (our designated drink for each meal). After supper one of us is back on the computer (which is hardly left alone), we read, watch a movie or play cards (uno or hand & foot). Mother has brought her knitting and has about completed half of a baby blanket. Then to bed we go to start another day.

Our Apartment
Our apartment is fairly nice. We have two bedrooms, kitchenette, living area, balcony to hang our laundry and bathroom. We have windows in everyone room that open up. Our bathroom is one of the nicest we have had since we have been here. It has a toilet(that does not run all the time), a bath tub with sprayer (so we can stand up and shower), a large water tank (in case the water is cut off by the government) and our new addition a washing machine (directions in sysmbols). The men brought the washing machine yesterday and today the plumbers came to hook it up. We had to hand wash things for the last few days. There are radiators in every room except the bathroom, which really keep the apartment warm. They are also wonderful drying machines Ha. You can put a damp shirt or pants on the radiators and in 3 to 4 hours they are dry. We have put things on the clothes line on the balcony but they have been drying very fast. The hot water we have is not just hot it is like have one of those hot water dispensers on your sink for hot drinks. Mother and I believe it is almost boiling when it comes thru the faucet. I have scalded myself several times and maybe I will learn eventually. There are two front doors to the apartment. They both have two different types of keys that I have not seen before but at least we feel safe. There is also a metal door to enter the building that has another type of key, but since every time we are going or coming it seems to open. There are numerous dogs and cats here in Kherson. Most of the dogs are friendly, I believe because they hope they will get a hand out from someone. We have seen a couple of people feeding them. The dogs are out during the day and the cats come out at night. You can hear the cats at night howling and some dogs barking. This morning we had the windows open and you could hear the roosters crowing.

People
Most people are walking or riding a bus. New cars and even used cars are just too expensive. A used car would cost them $30,000. So you see people walking to the market, shopping etc. The Ukrainian people also like things to be clean. There are always people sweeping the sidewalks with these short corn brooms. They even sweep the leaves with theses brooms. They don’t use a mop but a thin towel or cloth wrapped on the end of an upside down T. Then they take the towel off the staff and dunk in the pail of soap water ring it out and put it back on the staff and continue to mop. When we go to the boarding school it seems there are more people cleaning and taking care of the place than you would see back home. Also there seems to so many workers in the market, in the shops or where you go to shop ready and willing to help you. It seems that we always have to wait in line back home because of the cut backs of workers. Most of the older women always are wearing a skirt or dresses, while the younger women are wearing slacks or jeans. There are many people selling fruit, food, or flowers on the sidewalks.
Well that is all for now. We are praying that our wonderful translator can get us an appointment with the judge on Monday, so we can start counting the days to come home.

Thank so much for the emails of support. It really means a lot to hear from you back home.

Time Table

All of the following is a big IF assuming there are no hitches or complications.

Monday, December 8th - Court date here in Kherson
Richard will go from Kherson to Kiev on the 10:00pm overnight train

Ten Day waiting period starts

Tuesday, December 9th - Richard goes to US Embassy to sign papers
Richard stays overnight in Kiev

Wednesday, December 10th - Richard flies home to Georgia – arrives 9:30pm

Thursday, December 18th - Ten Day Waiting period ends
Will need to have new birth certificate and tax number
This may take up to a week

Aimee, Judy, Jacob and new son to go home on:

Thursday, December 25th
or
Friday, December 26th

Our big hurdles are the court date, after the court date to obtain new birth certificate,

new passport with tax i.d. We pray that things continue to go well.

We are still approixmately four weeks away for the process to be completed.