T minus ? and counting....

Well, I was hoping to deliver good news today about the readiness of the passports, but alas, it is not to be. I just spoke with Tanya who had just visited the passport office here in Kherson. We are waiting to receive the confirmation of Natasha and Pasha's new ID numbers from Kiev. Once that is done, the passports can actually be scanned and sent up to Kiev to be printed. Had the IDs been confirmed today, we would have had a high probability of getting passports on Wednesday. Now, it will be at least Thursday or possibly Friday. So, we wait, and hope and pray that tomorrow brings better news.

The weekend overall was quite fun. I spent time with N and P both Saturday and Sunday. I learned that they really like to play UNO. It was quite fun just to hang out and talk about various things like foods they like and don't like, things to expect in our home when we get to Colorado, etc., etc., etc.

I brought their suitcases over on Sunday and then immediately left with a load of Pasha's wash. I was thinking that if we were going to leave on Wednesday, I needed to get his wash done so it has time to dry. Now we have plenty of time. When I returned from the Bible House, I brought a huge suitcase that Michele and I brought out with us on our initial trip in September/October. We knew we did not want to bring it back with us, so I brought it to Natasha and asked her if she thought Jana might like it. Since Jana will be leaving the orphanage next summer, I figured she'd have the most need for it. And, indeed, she was happy to take it.

The funny thing about returning from the Bible House was that Pasha had pretty much already packed all his things in his suitcase and Natasha had her cupboard cleared out and packed already too. I think they're ready to get out of Dodge! :)

Today I learned that I will be able to sign final papers and take them out of the orphanage tomorrow (Tuesday). So, that is the plan. Tonight I told them to enjoy their last night in the orphanage, because tomorrow they would be staying with me. I hope they have a good night. Tomorrow, Tanya and I will go get some cakes, pies, cookies, candy, and fun stuff and we will have a sort of celebration after classes are done. Then we will say our good-byes and head back to the Bible House.

Since we will now need to stay in Kherson for a couple more days, Tanya and I will look for a short-stay apartment tomorrow. The Bible House has been great, but it will be much more convenient to have a kitchen to cook in and more of a "home" to hang out in. The kids won't go back to school...we'll just hang out, watch movies, learn English, go shopping, etc.

Please pray that the ID's are confirmed and ready for tomorrow and that we can get passports on Thursday. If we can get to Kiev on Friday, there's still an outside chance that we could fly home on Sunday. It's a stretch, but I'll give it my best. Otherwise, we will likely just stay until Wednesday and fly home on our scheduled flight. Also, please pray that we find an apartment that is convenient and available starting tomorrow. I have several folks looking on my behalf.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading.

Bruce