I was finally able to find Katya to give her the present the family adopting her sent. She is a beautiful girl. She says she misses her family very much. I am so glad she has a family who loves her and is coming for her. She will be so excited to see them.

The day started better than it ended. The girls wanted to give us kisses and tell us they loved us. It ended with a lecture we couldn’t understand from Liuba and Karina walking away from us.

We have gone to the store with the girls nearly every day since we have been here. We haven’t stocked up on groceries like we do at home and we are always in need of something. Plus it’s something to do to kill the time. We always let the girls choose one treat. We decided today not to stop at the store. We had just taken the girls to lunch after they had already had lunch at the orphanage and decided they didn’t need anything else.

The statue of Lenin in Dniprodzerzhynsk

“Magazine?” Store, Liuba asked right as we came out of the restaurant. “Zaftra.” Tomorrow, we said. We had about a mile to walk and the begging and pouting lasted the whole way. Karina actually didn’t beg this time. I think it was more of a game with her. She followed Liuba’s lead thinking it was fun to pout and walked on ahead. Liuba would not relent. “Please, please. Just one?” Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.

This one shows Liuba's personality

It’s kind of nice not to understand what she is saying when she is pouting and whining. It’s easier to ignore her. But by the time we got to the orphanage, and we caught up with Karina, we decided something had to be done. Thank goodness for Natashia to translate. I told them at home Emi, Luke and Preston don’t get treats everyday, only on special occasions or if they earn them. And when they pout and whine they loose privileges. When they act this way we don’t want to do anything special for them. They both said ok and then Liuba walked the other way. We asked where she was going and she said, “Aren’t we going to the store now?” Oh dear.

At the orphanage a crowd of kids gathered, as usual. Dave played frisbie with a few boys and the girls and I jump roped. Liuba has a luny side and made it very difficult. She is a tease and likes to get a reaction. Karina kept getting after her. Liuba was not being very nice today. She was teasing relentlessly. I know she does it for attention but it is very trying, especially not being able to communicate with her.

A group of teenage girls gathered. The Soderberg’s Julia came also. They teased with me back and forth. One girl told me her name was a boy’s name. I told her she was beautiful for a boy. They laughed. I spoke a few of the Russian words I know and Julia told me if I want to learn Russian she will teach me tomorrow. She is a great kid.

Karina loves to take pictures. This is me saying,"Can I have the camera, please?" Notice the strained smile.

Dave was anxious to leave today. It’s surprising that these days can be so exhausting. They are not physically strenuous but they are very emotionally draining. Being in a strange place, not being able to understand or make yourself understood, getting to know two children, seeing all these kids without families, etc. is very taxing. We appreciate all your comments so keep making them. Hearing from you strengthens and sustains us.




By the way, we are now officially accepting hand-me-downs :)