On Monday we will know when our Court date is!

Last night our paper work for our intent to adopt Natasha went back to the SDA in Kiev. Our facilitator tells us that on Monday we will know what our Court date will be. It's getting close now! This morning we had a few hours of free time, so we had the chance to walk around town and get a feel for the area. Up to this point we had really been too busy walk the neighborhood. And when you are riding in the van, it is so cold the windows fog up and you can't see much of anything. But today we walked through town and took a few pictures. Here's a photo of a tyical house in town. This afternoon we wanted to buy Natasha some earrings before our visit. "S" took us to what appeared to be a hardware store. I thought we must have made a mistake, but on the 2nd floor was a jewelery case, among other things you would not expect in a hardware store. We found a pretty pair of posts that were a delicate flower pattern. Then we were off to the orphanage. We had the chance to take a quick shot of one of the buildings that the children had painted a colorful mural.

Natasha and her homeroom class are getting used to our daily visits from 2-4 pm. They tried to get us to go have lunch with them today, but we explained we had just eaten before we arrived. Still, they brought us back some apples that we ate with yet another game of Uno. As with any other day, Mark lets his little girl bend the rules to the point of cheating (he's such a pushover!).

Natasha's teacher and caregiver are very nice women. Today the teacher showed us a book that was a collection of photos of Natasha and drawings she had done over the years. Natasha blushed and was embarrassed, but we made a fuss over it anyways. I think the drawings spanned the 5 years she had been there. The first drawings were like that of a kindergartener, and you could see the progression in her drawing skill over time. It was interesting to see the theme of most of the drawings. There was always one girl by herself outside in her yard with flowers and the house in the background.Sometimes there were animals too. A dog, cat or maybe a horse. I think one drawing had a bear! But no mom, dad, brother or sister. Just one girl and no one else in each and every drawing. Pretty telling, I would say.

A little later she asked if we would walk to the store with her and her friend from class. We bought some soda, cookies and candies and took them back to the class for a snack. Then it was time to go, but the teacher made a point of walking out with us so she could tell us a few things through "S". She said she enjoyed our photo album and that we were an easy couple to communicate with. Her brother, like Mark, enjoys fishing. Her father lives in Seattle. She asked us if we attend church and we told her we go to the Catholic church in Half Moon Bay on occassion. She seemed happy to hear that and wanted us to know that Natasha was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Tommorrow we will go to Vinnyetska for more adoption business. Hopefully we will have a chance to do a little sightseeing. It is a pretty big city, I think about an hour east, back towards Kiev.

That's it for today!