A good afternoon & evening yesterday

Yesterday afternoon we had a fun visit with Vladik inside. It had rained more in the day so the ground was very wet--when we went to to him, the caregiver brought out his jacket and hat, and we tried to communicate we wanted to stay inside, resorting to pointing at the word in the pocket dictionary. The caregivers don't speak English so we don't really know where to take him but we just stayed with him outside the groupa room and played. Vladik was very funny...he enjoyed putting Haylee and Naomi's pretty handkerchiefs (they brought to be able to go into a cathedral here) around him (he will enjoy dress up at home). He was very curious about a retractable tape measure I gave him, and when we gave him a little flashlight he was fascinated by the light on the ground and then put it to his mouth and "sang" like it was a microphone...then he would put it to Haylee's mouth to sing. Jonah enjoyed giving him some crackers.

We're so glad 3 of our children can be with us....and can form relationships with Vladik too.

Hopefully that will make his transition home easier. The girls are really enjoying it here and don't seem homesick....but Mommy is very homesick for her little girls at home. We've been able to talk to them each day (once we got the phone figured out) and its been wonderful to hear their sweet chipper voices...they sound so good, and Nana says they are doing very well. Elsie is sleeping through the night (since about day3) and not having problems with being left....I praise God for giving her grace, and for the great care she and Annabelle are receiving from my parents. They are having alot of fun. It is a great comfort!

Last night we had a wonderful dinner with our new friends Snezhana and Sasha and their girls Dasha and Sasha. We were served a chicken and potato dish, a vinegrette (like a potato salad with beets, carrots, peas, pickles and oil), green tomatoes,and compote (apricot juice)...it was all delicious. It was neat to hear more about life in the Ukraine and about their christian experience and ministry there to help pregnant women. It is interesting and sad how pregnancy is very discouraged here due to the cost of medical care (compared to their wages), how its viewed as a sickness, and abnormalities are quickly identified and lead to abortions. Their ministry seeks to counsel, support, and educate pregnant women, teach abstinence in schools, and share what it means to be a christian, as over here, people would say they are a christian because they are from an orthodox christian nation,but not know anything about a relationship with Jesus Christ. We feel blessed to know them.