March 21 (Day 10 of Journey)

Posted by Anne on March 22, 2011 · 5 Comments 

The only toilet that Gabe can't clog

We came over to Howick’s apartment again to use the internet. So we are uploading our blog from yesterday.

March 21, 2011 Day 10 of Journey by Tony

The biggest news of the day is that Lucy Lavrinenko joined us this morning. We met her in Utah last fall as she was staying in the states visiting friends. She helped us a lot with translating when we hosted last fall. She just returned to Kiev on Saturday and took the overnight train last night to Zaparozhye and taxied over to us this morning.

Victor spent a lot of time finishing our paperwork to submit to the court but was still lacking one thing so he plans on taking it first thing in the morning. We, of course, wish that everything happened yesterday but there is not much we can really do to change things.

We did visit the orpahage this afternoon. It turns out that the kids are on spring break this week so there is no school. It would be nicer if it were actually Spring and not so cold. Anne brought a bunch of stuff to make bracelets and necklaces. She brought the stuff specifically to work with the girls but it turned out that the boys were just as interested in participating. A little bit of volleyball with Yuri and Victor, our driver, and we headed back home around 6:00pm.

Note from Anne:

All our children, Yuri, Zhenia, Luba, Sam, and Gabe were all so happy to see Lucy today. She is like a sister to them.

As Tony said, I brought jewelry making things in hopes that I would have enough for about 25 girls to each make something. As it ended up, the girls that were with us made multiple bracelets as did the boys. After making beaded bracelets and neclaces, the kids saw my bookmark that was a cut piece of cardstock with a hole punched in the center top, and finished off with some embroidery floss strung with a few beads and tied through the hole. They are quite pretty. The kids all improvised and made their own creations. I also brought lots of craft thread and embroidery floss for the kids to make friendship bracelets. I was grateful that Lucy had made some before. I made my first one on the airplane over here to Ukraine. It actually turned out quite pretty, but Lucy is a pro. I continued with the beading while Lucy work with some kids on the friendship bracelets. Many of the kids already knew how to make them, which I assumed, but figured a fresh supply of colored thread/floss would be enjoyed. One of the girls made me a beautiful friendship bracelet. She came and tied it on my wrist. I then gave her the one I made. It was so wonderful to have Lucy there to help with our creations and especially with interpreting for us all.

Please do keep us in your prayers in regards to our court date. We really need to have it soon. We are hoping and praying that we will get a judge that will try to accomodate us and that all the people that need to be around to participate in the court proceedings or to sign things will be around or willing to go out of their way to help. We are so grateful for all the people who have helped us out to this point. We are glad that our facilitator is feeling better. He has been working on paperwork all day and also helping the Howicks a bit. Did I already say that we are sooo glad to have Lucy with us?! Not just to be a fabulous interpreter, but also because she is a great friend to us all.

Sam and Gabe have been great. They are doing really well with the food, the living situation, ALL the driving, and especially with getting involved in whatever activity we are doing at the orphanage. Tony, Sam and Gabe have enjoyed the soccer, volleyball, and basketball. We did more cup stacking today.

Our son, Joshua, emailed from his mission in the Philippines today telling us how much he wishes he could join us on this great adventure to Ukraine. He is having a great adventue of his own. He is hoping that we will take the family to Disneyland when he returns home in a year to compensate for his missing our adventure. We have a family that loves adventure. I am the most conservative of the bunch when it comes to adventure, but I believe that life is a great adventure with a purpose. We have chosen to invest in the lives of three children in the hopes of making a difference. I believe that each day of our life, as we invest our time, our talents, and sometimes financial help, we can experience great adventures of our own. Any time we choose to invest in people, we take a risk of some sort. Is the risk worth it? Christ seemed to think so.

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