Sunday, October 22, 2006



October 21, 2006
We had a grand time today. We took Nicky out of the orphanage for the first time! We arrived at the orphanage with Victor and the Bruces at 10 AM and met with the orphanage director, Galina. She had us fill out a petition to take the children Saturday and Sunday. The Ukrainians seem to have a thing about these petitions – and they have to be hand written. I would have thought they would have a standard form as each couple that comes to adopt has to complete one. After many instructions we were finally free to take them with us for the day!
We all went shopping at the market. The open-air market is huge but very cramped. There are several hundred individual, small, tented shops (10 ft square) in the market and they sell everything from clothes to building materials. There are a few small buildings in the middle that were heated. Nicky told us he knew the market (when he was on the streets) like the back of his hand . We were on a quest to get him some shoes to wear home. He was VERY particular (not surprising after the whole Leonardo thing) and ended up at the end of the day with a pair of "Puma" tennis shoes for 60 grivna (12 bucks) and absolutely thrilled! He put them on immediately and could not stop grinning from ear to ear!
All of us had lunch together at the hotel cafĂ©. There were 8 of us in all and it took about 2 hours to complete. No one eats together as the food comes out as it is individually prepared… and there was only one cook!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nicky does look quite proud in his sneakers and has such a beautiful, big smile, in every picure you've posted! It's no wonder! God is blessing you daily. You both are in our prayers that all continue to go smoothly. Enjoying reading your journal and the pictures. Love, Debbie & Dale

Anonymous said...

Hi there...
it has been so fun reading about your journey online...i work at CBN in Kiev on our orphan and adoption projects and have met both your boys on several of my trips to Berdyansk. It would be fun to connect with you all when you are back in Kiev finishing your paperwork and all- I would love to hear more of your story. The boys look so happy and I am so excited for your family. Send me an email or give me a call if you can when you are doing the embassy stuff in Kiev.
Many blessings and Godspeed,
Karen Springs
+80 96 331 9363
Karen.Springs@cbn-cis.org

Anonymous said...

hi!!! its natalie i miss u both soooooo much well not mr.dave but u mrs.kathy

Anonymous said...

Hey guys! We are glad to hear all is going well.... Nicky looks so happy in his new sneakers, that had to touch your heart. Tyler is doing well he has "Upwards
basketball" at 6 this evening, heis very excited. Tyler wants to call (I'm not sure what the rate is yet) But maybe for a birthday present. We all here are rooting for you guys and are in our prayers. We love all (4) of you guys.

Love us!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Dave & Kathie,
Wow, I'm just getting caught up with you guys. Wanted you to know that Elliot and Chris share the same birthday, except that Chris will be 17 this year. Also we have a foreign exchange family who are a host to "Koli" who is from Armenia and speaks Russian, English and another language. We took him to Busch Gardens Sat. I continue to pray for you each day. Dave you are doing an excellent job of putting on the
"blog". Hurry home 10/23/06Love, Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Calling Ukraine??
We want to share this about calling Ukraine: get an int'l calling card (the ones at 7-11 work fine...) OR call your service provider and ask for their best international rate. For us, the Cox "usual" rate to call Ukraine was several dollars a minute, but as soon as we asked for a plan, it dropped to about .30/min. It was an immediate change and you can switch back...I think there is a $3.50 monthly charge. ~The Henrys PS Don't forget they are 7 hours ahead of EST!