Friday, April 13, 2007

We just found out that we have court on Monday, April 16, at 10am. Hurray! We received this news as Tom brought the children back to the hotel. Tom and I jumped around our room just like the kids did. We are happy. This means that Cindy and Luba can travel to Berdansk on Friday April 27 for Matthew Maksim's birth certificate. Maria Oksana's birth certificate will be obtained here in Zap. This is good news.

Tom contines to upload pictures to a Kodak site today. If you did not get the link to the photos let us know. He added to this site in the morning and this evening.

We just had the afternoon with the children today because the SDA was at the orphanage. We let them have some snacks in our room then off to the park with rocks. Those of you who have been to Zap know of the smooth rocks with mosaics in them. Kids climb on the rocks and we took some wonderful pictures. Also in this park, artists display their oil paintings for sale. The prices are very low. $30 for an oil painting. I wish that one could fit in my suit case. It might fit after Tom leaves!

We then passed and played football because it was a beautiful afternoon. The kids like passing the football and Tom and I like being outside. We when headed to the Mustang for an early dinner. Matthew Maksim orders then Maria Oksana will order the same thing. This has happened several times at restaurants. It is funny. Then after Matthew Maksim finishes his meal, he continues to order more items such as desserts, chocolate and tea. We do understand a bit of Russian and stop him. He is a sly one who will need a watchful eye.

We returned to the hotel where the kids brushed their teeth prior to leaving for the orphanage. Maria Oksana may have a cavity. It is hard to tell, but she calls our names and points to her mouth. I guess that will need some attention when we get home.

Both children are getting along well. Today, they were telling us about their family. Both mentioned the other and of course Caroline and Luke. They cannot wait to get to our house. Cindy feels the same. Maria Oksana could not believe that Socrates, our cat, sleeps wtih Caroline. She now wants to sleep with the cat. Matthew Maksim asked to sleep with Gretchen, our dog.

Tom is torn between going home and taking Matthew and Marie home. Cindy thinks that he needs to get home. Caroline has learned how to dial international calls and is calling us 2 to 3 times a day. We do miss the kids at home. We basically have two families 5000 miles apart.

Tomorrow, we pick up the children for passport photos. We will have them for the day.