Believe it or not...

WE ARE HOME!!!!!!!! We arrived TODAY at 12:30. It was a looooong day and we are exhausted and we had several interesting things happen thanks to our children...I will tell you just a few...you know you are a MOTHER when you get handed every piece of chewed gum, dirty tissue and scrap of trash your children possess. AND you know you are a FATHER when you take your son to the bathroom in the airplane and the stewardess comes and asks frantically "Do you need HELP???" because your youngest son pressed the "HELP" button in the toilet...THREE DIFFERENT TIMES.

We made it, we are all here and relatively healthy (we all have colds) and the boys only had minor melt-downs.

Thanks you for all your prayers for getting us home by Christmas - they worked worked!!! We will put a few more pics up of their first US Christmas and we will see MOST of you next week! MERRY CHRISTMAS and GOD IS GOOD!

Soon and very soon...

Just a few more pics and a few more bits of info... We HOPE to be out of here on Wednesday. Vasya is trying his darndest to get us to the US Embassy on Thursday. We can BEG for a Friday appointment (they don't work on Friday's...) if we don't get it done on Thursday. We HOPE and PRAY to get on a plane on Saturday or Sunday (Merry Christmas!!!) and be home on Christmas. That is our hope....PLEASE PRAY we get here (I know youa re already but I am READY to scome HOME!)

Zach asked the DAY we picked him up "So, are we going to America tomorrow?" We WISH! Few more days, Zach...then some sanity will return (HA!) Our kids have watched so many videos it is funny (funny...in a scary sort of way...) There is literally nothing else for them to do besides that and draw (I have pictures for all of you to post on your refridgerators...) We had a great time yesterday in Yalta. We ate in a fancy restaurant...Zach kept moving his silverware (and the waiter kept moving it back tot he right place...) Enough talk - MORE PICTURES!!!

We GOT 'Em!

Hello all from the Fanelli's- Couple of things going on these past few days...
First, we are OFFICIAL. They are OURS! We are still going through the rest of the paperwork but the court side is done (and the JUDGE came in late and then left with he stamp - it didn't get done until after 1:30 and...it may delay us another day - we HOPE not.

Second, we had our first night all together...it was amusing. Nothing really happened, except Tom and I didn't sleep too well. We kept hearing the boys...SNORING. Yes, both of them.

Third, we had our first family vacation at the Black Sea (Yalta). Pictures to follow...

Fourth, I had my first haircut with a pair of blunt-tipped kiddy scissors (it was all we could find...) And for those of you with little faith, Tom did a DANDY job...but can you imagine!? He also cut his own hair. And he looks fine too.

I am thinking that my boys almost look like twins - I mean their jawline, their noses, their ears...they look SO similar...what do you think?

Just postin' more pics!

Tom did the update this time - I am just posting pics and some prayers - please pray that the Judge sees fit to come in early tomorrow and sign our paperwork. We can't do anything without it and we have a lot of running around to do before we can leave this region (maybe next Monday or may be Tuesday or Wednesday if we don't get the paperwork early) The biggest problem we have now is we will be running in to holiday schedules with teh US embassy soon - and we want to get OUT of here with our BOYS!!!! The Embassy takes both US Holidays and Ukrainian holidays off so...we are coming up on a bunch!
Love you guys!

Hinges and elevators...

Hello!

Tom here...

I know you've been waiting for the hinge story and the waiting is over! I will tell you the tail of the hinges.

HINGE STORY

First you must know that the toys we brought were rather generic. Remember, we had no idea if we were getting young kids or older kids, boys or girls... so, we couldn't bring everything. We have already exhausted the kids on most of what we brought, but boys like to play catch. We have been allowed to visit with Tyler in one room in the school and that room has a large storage system on one entire one. This is at least 20 years old, maybe more? It looks fine from a distance, but up close the thing is falling apart. Well, we have some balls with lights on the inside and we have occasionally even turned the light out when we were playing catch. Most of the time it's just Tyler and myself playing catch, but on occasion both Lois and Vasya (our interpreter) also join in. Well, on one such day the ball was thrown to Lois and it was not a good throw and she had to move to catch the ball. She moved right into the storage system and broke a door right off it's hinges! Yep! She broke three hinges in a second! We all laughed and then realized we had to fix the thing! Vasya told the Director of the orphanage what Lois did and she forgave her, and we told her we would fix it.

Seems simple - go to The Home Depot and by a few hinges and fix the thing - right? Well, there is no Home Depot and hardware for something that old may not be easy to find. Vasya found some hinges and we headed back the following day to fix the door. We arrive and start removing the old hinges and the new hinges do not look similar at all! Yep! We had the wrong style of hinges. Vasya claims they were the old Soviet style and we needed the old Ukrainian style!

A few days pass...

So, we went to the central market and found a different set of hinges and headed back to the orphanage - this time to fix the thing once and for all! Yep! These hinges would not work either! We were perplexed - now what? Well, Lois said, all you need to do is buy some wood and that would allow the hinges enough room and they would work. Vasya told Lois to go get Tyler - kinda brushing her idea off. If you know Lois - she doesn't care for that! She persisted and you know what - it may very well work.

So, we measured and recorded we need a pieve of wood 1 cm x 3 cm and at least as tall as Vasya's shoulder! Sure, no problem!!!

A few days pass...

So, back to the central market and we had to find someone sellinf wood! Not an easy task at all... but God is good and we found exactly what we needed and headed back to the orphanage - this time to fix the thing! Sure enough we were able to fix the door and in the process fix the door next to the one Lois broke!

ELEVATOR STORY

On Saturday the kids were sitting in front of the computer watching animated films dubbed in Russian and I thought they had seen enough and wanted to take the kids outside. So, I asked them to help me take the trash out. It is about a four block walk to the dumpsters - a nice little walk. So, Lois gathered all the trash - two bags and each boy grabbed a bag and off we went. We stepped outside our apartment and pushed the button for the elevator. We are staying on the 7th floor and we all piled in...me, my two sons and two bags of garbage. Zach likes pushing buttons and asked to push the button for the first floor. So, I approved and he pushed the button and the doors shut. In about 3 seconds the elevator stopped... I knew we were not completely down to the first floor, but the doors did not open! We were stuck between the 4th and 5th floors! Now, let me tell you the details about the elevators here... they are small - like 4 x 4! They stink! I thing every person and there pet has at one time used the elevator as a urinal!!! It is really bad! Then the garbage we brought with us... not a pleasant smell! So, I called Vasya on the cell phone and he was outside the elevator in a matter of minutes. He told me to press the alarm and hold it and when someone came on tell them I needed help. Sure, no problem - I speak such good Russian!!! No problem, nobody would answer. So, Vasya called a few people - who do you call when you need to get someone out of an elevator??? Well, Vasya got in touch with the right person and it would be 25-30 minutes. No problem! Except the two boys could not stop hitting each other - I had to separate them, but that didn't work and then Zach got tired and wanted to sit on the garbage bags! NO, NO, NO!!! Vasya then told them to settle down and before you knew it - the elevator was moving again. Just 25 minutes - not bad!

Well, that's my stories and now it's time to go.

Vissyo!

PICTURES!!!

Typical BOYS!!!!








Family dinner




Tyler's Play - (He's the BEAR)

8, 7, 6, 5...

WOW! What a weekend!!! We went to Djoncoy as planned on Friday but FIRST we went and got Tyler and he went with us. We surprised Zach with his big brother! He was elated...of course. Then it got better. We asked the director if we could take Zach with us to Simferopal. In a nutshell, she said, "No, we can't do that, it is against the rules...but no one will check...so, maybe, if we can have him back within an hour of us calling if someone DOES check and we will have you request him for each day of the weekend...so, okay!" Yep - we got Zach for the entire weekend! We had him from about 11 on Friday until Monday morning at 9 a.m. We had Ty for each day from about 10 until about 6. Can I tell you...we FEEL like parents!!!
So, we had a weekend full of firsts. To name a few, our first family dinner, Zach's first pizza, and Tom's first time getting stuck in an elevator (with Ty, Zach and 2 bags of garbage...). We had a great time and we did a lot. We got another set of clothes for each boy, we gave them both bathes (they played for about an hour and had a blast!) We had to take Ty home each night and as he went with Tom and Vasya, I had time alone with Zach. Friday night he got his first bath and he played alone for 45 minutes (with me checking every couple of minutes). I gave him a bottle of bubbles (what harm can he do in the tub with bubbles???) and he used the WHOLE bottle. He was sliding around the tub like a nut! After he got out of the tub, it was about bed time so he, of course, had to go to the bathroom several times. After the last time, he actually went in and went to sleep. Tom called to me and told me to look in the toilet...well, first, let me explain the toilet. In most Ukrainian flats, the toilet room is just that - a toilet in a tiny room. OUR toilet has a broken lid so you can see how it works and you can see the water flowing in to the toilet everytime it flushes. It isn't like an American toilet - it is a little bit different - ANYWAY...you can see inside the tank because the back lid is broken in half...so what child can resist that? Well, not OURS. Apparently after the first visit, he had a thought and got the near empty bubble bottle and decided to see HOW empty it was. And there was enough in it to make quite a few bubble in the toilet tank which in turn made even MORE bubbles when you flushed. So, Zach cleaned his first toilet - unintentionally. We thought it was hysterical. I took a picture. I showed it to him the next morning...and he didn't know a thing about it. Let me tell you, it is easy to deny when you don't speak the same language...THAT will not last! But it was funny, anyway. On Sunday night he had to go to the bathroom about times before he gave up and went to sleep...and on that night he decided to dip a new roll of toilet paper into the back of the tank...I guess just to see what it would do. I tell you what Shelly - I am not allowing ANYONE to get him a squirt gun anytime soon. His mind is always working and he want to test everything.
He also likes the Bejeweled game on the computer - but not so much for the strategy - just for pushing every button on the computer. At one time, he had about 17 windows open. I told Vasya to tell him not to push all the buttons because he could break the computer...he responded, "I am not pushing a bunch of buttons" Uh huh. After this weekend, we have decided we have salt (Tyler) and pepper (Zach). Zach is our tester of limits, our pusher of buttons, our not defiant but not compliant one...Tyler is almost the opposite. I am sure they will both have their days - but this was how the weekend played out. All in all, though, it wasn't too much to handle...but we are tired! He got up sharply at 7:30 (no alarm) and told us "Dobre Ootra!" (Good morning) and made his bed quite neatly. He gave us hugs and kisses and then signaled that he was hungry and wanted to eat. He did this every morning he was here. They are both such great kids...we love them SO much. Soap bubbles in the toilet and all.
On Monday we had to take Zach back and then return to see Ty in a play. He was a bear and although we didn't understand what was going on, it was funny and he did great. We videotaped the play and we were like two proud, beaming parents. It was great - our first school play. Today (Tuesday) we have decided we are outgrowing the orphanage and tomorrow we are asking to take Ty for the whole day. Only 4 more days and they are ours FOREVER. We still have a hard time imagining that - it feels like we have been here forever. This whole thing will be much easier when we get home. And much more difficult, too, I am sure.
One thing we bought on Saturday was black-market videos on DVD with Russian dubbed in - and of course, they were glued to the computer screen. We have the equivalent of 26 full length cartoon (like Toy Story, Shrek and The Incredibles) on 3 DVD's. I am not one to want my kids glued to a TV...but it is about the ONLY thing we can have them do without being with them constantly. SOOO - for now, they are TV faces - and we are okay with it! They will have SO many changes hit them at once - the marathon movies will be a distant memory soon enough.
Tom says HE will blog tomorrow and HE will fill you in on the hinge story and the elevator story.
I will post a few pics and HOPE they come out!
Vissy0!

NINE...

Sorry - no pics today - we forgot to bring the disk. We promise, we will try to get more on but believe me, it is SLOOOW going here!

Today we are taking it easy - Vasya took his car in for repairs and we are without it so we are walking around and looking in shops. They have a ton of "Second Hand" stores here with clothing. We found a jean jacket for one of the boys (probably Zach, the younger TALLER one!) and we have another one to go to across the street (THRIFT STORES IN UKRAINE!!!!). Don't worry, though, just clothes so I won't be coming home with a suitcase full of stuff for eBay!

We started our laundry in the tub this morning and got it all washed and ready to rinse when PFfffffffffffffftt blurp, blurp. That was the sound the faucet made when I turned it on. Yeah, the water is GONE. So, we have washed and unrinsed clothes sitting in the tub waiting. On the good side, we both took bathes before the laundry and we DID get to rinse so at least WE are clean.

Tom and I were talking as we walked down here and were recalling what the judge said to us. The LAST thing he said was "The boys will live with you FOREVER." Uhhhh. Forever? We were thinking college in about 9 or 10 years...FOREVER? Then again, that is kind of what has happened to my mom and dad - we couldn't live MUCH closer! And when we move, we are tasking them WITH us sooo - maybe forever isn't all that long!

Later this afternoon, (after Vasya gets his car) we will head to the orphanage to see Tyler. AND to repair a door that I RIPPED THE HINGES OFF OF (three of them...LONG STORY...not really but I choose not to embarass myself...). Today we will write another petition to take him for the weekend hours but we are also going to try to take him with us to see Zach on Friday. That should be fun. They have only seen each other for that short time at the court house (and they were already poking, pinching and pulling on each other!) and it might be nice for them to have some more time together. PLUS - I want to take a long ride with Ty and get to hug on him (yeah, I have ulterior motives). This week has gone quickly.

Please pray for the boys - they have a lot of changes coming up. Of course, pray for their hearts to hear THE message of Christ and His love. Pray that the next few days fly by. PRAY WE GET WATER!!! Zach will need another bath and clothing change by the time we see him on Friday! Pray for Vasya and his wife and son - Vasya has opened up a lot to us and...that is a family in need of the love of Christ. I have already told him that our family and church at home is praying for his family - pour it on. He and his family have had a lot of stressful things happen to them in the last year and a half (and they have only been married about that long). Vasya is a great guy and has been a huge help to us.

Tomorrow we will be up in Djoncoy so we probably won't post - but we will get another picture on here by Saturday! Love to you all!

Vissyo!

TEN....

I have to tell you - it is like Christmas morning for us to get online at the internet cafe and see all the comments. What fun! And, it is so cool to see how God is working through all of you. We are SO thankful! It's funny, I read the comments and I can hear your specific voices when I read them - like you are talking to us!

Okay - so we are in the countdown and we are making plans. As you know, our boys don't speak English. They will learn, but we don't really want to wait for a couple of months to tell them about Jesus! Soooo - we have worked out an idea. We have a friend here who was our interpreter 11 years ago - and she works in children's ministry at Calvary Chapel Kiev...and she has talked with us and she will resent the whole gospel story to the boys when we get back to Kiev. Not only that, she will give them each their own Children's Bible in Russian as a gift from her.

So...now we have a HUGE thing for everyone to pray for. Pray that our boys are receptive to the love of Christ and that they GET it! We don't know how much they know (our guess is not much if ANYTHING) and we are pretty sure they don't understand unconditional love. Pray that this is the beginning of something beautiful for both of them (and for US!) We want these boys to be dedicated to Christ very early in their new lives - we want them to be able to see how God has had His hands all over this! That is our biggest prayer request yet - pray that our boys have soft hearts and accept Christ as their Savior.

And...you can imagine that we have had a little time on our hands...so I have had a little time to play in PhotoShop...these were taken at different times and in different locations - but aren't these beautiful (err...handsome...) boys!


Love and hugs to you all!
Vissyo!

The Fanelli Family

As most of you know, today was our court date. Our documents came in at 11:20 on the train and our court time was 11:30. We got to the court house at...11:30 on the dot. When Tyler saw Zach, it was one happy reunion. The court was already in session for another American family, so we waited about 30 minutes. When it was our turn, we all filed in to the judges office (there were 16 of us I think!) and we went through the proceedings. Tom petitioned, they asked us a few questions, each of the education directors spoke, each of the orphanage directors spoke and then Tom petitioned again and we asked to change their names and then we stepped out while a decision was made (they had to have some time to type the official document). About 5 minutes later we were called back in and the judge read the decision (it was GOOD) and we are now in the 10 day waiting period. We pick up the boys and they are forever ours starting on December 16th. We still have a few days of paperwork after that but we will soon be on the downward side of the hill. And we will soon have two boys! And may we present...The Fanelli Family!!!
P.S. We found out today that our younger son...Zach - is about 2 inches taller than Tyler!!! Zach is on the left(in front of me), Ty is on the right (in front of Tom). Of course they are only 10 months apart - but Zach - who looked so small to us, is actually quite a bit bigger than his big brother (but, Tom says, Tyler is stronger!)

WOW!

First let me tell you about yesterday and how God works. We went to see Ty about 3:30 in the afternoon - we were expecting our call from Kostya at 4 or so to let us know the paperwork was on its way to us via train from the AC. Tom and Ty started playing and I decided to sign on to AOL Instant Messenger on my cell phone to see if anyone was on - but it was early so I figured no one would be. I was wrong - Jenny Taylor was on at work. So I IMed her and we chatted for a bit. Then Vasya came in and told us that Kostya had our paperwork (YAY) but there was one missing stamp (BOOOO). I IMed Jenny and she got a group together at work and they started praying. Vasya started making phone calls and Kostya headed back to the AC to get the stamp we needed. Apparently, the prayer group had a direct line to God because within 10 minutes, Vasya came back in and told us that he had our appointment time with the judge switched from 10:00 to 11:30...and Kostya was going to have our corrected paper on the train that arrives in Simferopal at 11:08. Wow. Everything was rearranged that quickly and smoothly (and that was Zach and his entourage and Ty and his entourage all being switched, too). So - court was on, the paperwork was on its way and we FINALLY got to tell Ty that tomorrow - he gets to see his little brother. He was totally excited - it was great to see! Prayer works - and God is good!!!

Just want this waiting to be OVER...

Okay, we took Tyler back about half an hour ago and you know what we feel like? We feel like a kid on Christmas night. All the packages that have been under the tree for a month and all the stuff there is to look forward to...is over. Yeah, we got to do cool stuff with Ty and we had a blast...but now it is back to reality. And we just want to KEEP him and not take him back. We are both a bit bummed. Well, actually, all three of us are. Tyler was very quiet and kept sighing heavily. We miss him already. We are pathetic.

Today we went downtown and ate at a cool restaurant that is decorated like an illustration from a story by a Ukrainian writer (not one I have heard of) - it looks like you are out in the country. Ty ordered what he wanted to eat which included green borscht (which is sans beets and cabbage), a beet salad, chicken Kiev and juice. We went to a couple stores downtown and bought some flash cards, an English/Russian dictionary (they speak Russian down in Crimea - NOT Ukrainian) and then a couple of fun books (Lion King mosaic sticker book and a a book full of graph paper and a pad of drawing paper). Then we went across the street to a store where we had spotted Hot Wheels and let him pick out 2 for him and 2 for his brother. THEN he started getting wide-eyed and started wanting balloons, markers, binoculars....He was fine when we told him no, but it was kind of funny - he only wanted ONE binocular... We told him we had balloons at home. So, we went home and he headed to the little store with papa to get ice cream (Hmmm, Grampa Smith, do you see a pattern you can continue with the new grandkids here???). When he got upstairs, he went right to the computer and wanted to play Bejeweled. I got it started for him and papa and he played for a while. Then we went through some flash cards and then he did a page in the mosaic Lion King book which I would have lost interest in about 2 minutes. Basically you are following numbered squares and putting stickers in each square according tot eh number and you end up making a mosaic-like picture. Like over 50 stickers about 1/2" by 1/2" and uh...slow. He did each one carefully. Impressive. More patience than his mother...imagine that! We got out the animal balloons and we all played with them (we made 2 dogs and the rest we inflated and deflated at each other). Papa and Ty played with the Hot Wheels (the one he got at McD's looks like he has played with it to DEATH! The tires are almost gone and it is one day old! He is also aware that it is one of a set...and is interested in the whole set (Don't know how we will work that! And what about his brother?!) We had him play on the computer in the kitchen while we cooked dinner and then we ate and...it was time to go. I am completely serious - we are depressed. My arms feel empty. I want my kids and I WANT THEM NOW!

Sooo - pray for us and pray for them. We are getting to the point of missing each other now. Pray those papers get here by Tuesday morning so we can start the final 10 day countdown. Keep praying for Vasya - he misses his family more the longer he is away. THANK YOU for all your prayers. We love you guys all so much.

Vissyo!

Beautiful Day!!!

We had a GREAT day today. We picked Tyler up around noon and went to McDonald's first. I do believe that McDonald's changed the Happy Meals JUST for us because they were HOT WHEELS. There could NOT have been a better toy in the Happy Meal. Ty liked the car (which lights up) and ate his cheeseburger and fries and finished in a pretty good time. He then ate some of my fries and polished off Tom's Diet Coke. THEN we went SHOPPING. We have to buy both boys clothes but we actually get to have Tyler outside of the orphanage so we went to the worlds largest...uh...outdoor market? Flea market? It was a huge area set up with about 700 little kiosks about the size of our bathroom all of them selling something. We bought him a coat, socks, underwear, shoes, a couple of shirts and a pair of pants and pajamas. When Vasya went to put on his new socks to try on his new shoes he realized what we already knew...this boy needs a BATH! So after we got all of our name-brand black-market clothes (We got him a Columbia jacket for about $15) we headed for our flat. And we started boiling water for a warm bath (still no hot water here). We started to realize that this boy is not BIG and BEEFY at all - he had on SEVEN layers of clothes! He peeled them off and Tom did the bathing honors. He said Ty was a quick but efficient bather - he knows how to clean up quickly and completely. I got to bandage his knees and elbow (he is a pretty banged up kid!)Then we put on all his new clothes and went in to watch papa and Vasya making pizza. He had never HAD pizza before and he liked it - ate 3 pieces and salad and chip and a couple of glasses of Coke...then he was full...except for the ice cream that he knew was in the freezer for him. He had room for that!
We went to our room after dinner and he watched a couple of Pixar shorts on iPod and then he decided to get in to his MOTHER'S game...Bejeweled. He almost has it down (so watch out grandma and Fran - he will be a pro by the time we get home and will tell you what moves to make). I was thinking he had it down when he would make a wrong move but then he would figure it out eventually - he was catching on pretty quickly. His eyes got tired, so we quit the game, he watched another Pixar short and then he just laid back and rested on me...ahhhh. I liked that - no - I LOVED that. Tom and I are completely in love with him. The only thing we are missing is his brother. This is a new thing for both of us - and we are enjoying every minute of it. Maybe SOMEDAY we won't want to have him just sit with us and do nothing - but I doubt it. It was a GREAT day. We didn't want to take him back, but had to return him by 6:30. So...we did. He carried his 3 bags of dirty clothes back with him and gave us hugs...it would have been very sad except for the best part. We get to do it again TOMORROW! What a fantastic Sunday it will be - we plan on just hanging out at the flat. We are LOVING this parent/child thing.

Vissyo!

Happy December!

Okay, first things first - I must have mentioned Michael somewhere along the lines and I intentionally did NOT use their names right now so as NOT to confuse anyone...But, hey - I GOT CONFUSED! Okay - so here is the deal...Tyler is Tyler Michael - his birthname is Mikhail - and he is called Misha. We call him Misha, too - because, well...that is his NAME...for NOW. But when we got to court (hopefully next Tuesday) his name will be legally changed to Tyler Michael Fanelli. So - you don't need to remember his middle name! Zach is actually named Eduard. He is called "Edik" which sounds like Eric and since we have one Ed in the family, We are switching his middle name to "Eric" - so HIS name will be Zachary Eric Fanelli. Did I clear up the confusion? Hope so!

We are officially "set" with a court date on next Tuesday. That means that as long as the Adoption Center gets all of our paperwork back by next Tuesday morning, we are good to go. We get done with court and then we count down 10 days in Simferopal. Then we count down another 5 between getting their new passports and getting their VISAs from the US Embassy and their medical clearances...and THEN we hope we can get a flight outta here!!! It will be, of course, the busiest possible time for us to fly. We don't care if we come in on Christmas Day - WE WANT TO COME HOME!!!

We meet with the judge tomorrow for our first appointment - no idea why - we just do. Then next Tuesday, we have our court day with the judge, the 2 jurors (which aren't anything like our jurors) and the boys and their caretakers and us and Vasya...should be quite a crowd.

Tonight we went to see Tyler. I think he may be the snuggler of the two. It is hard to tell at this point but he seems a little more huggy than Zach. Of course...that may change the next time we talk to Zach. We had a good time with Tyler - only about an hour and a half but we made paper airplanes and tossed around balls and daddy drew with him again (Tom is getting to be quite the artist!). He still seems to be very IN to figuring out how things work. He also seems to struggle more with the language (English) than Zach. He just isn't as interested which will be quite a rude awakening to him when he hits the ground in Chicago and doesn't have Vasya there to interpret for him! I am still falling in love with these guys more each time I am with them. I am so ready to get them home (not to mention give them a nice warm bath with a lot of SOAP!!!) Of course that won't happen here in Simferopal because today, not only do we not have HOT water - we have NO water. It has been off all day. We HOPE it is on when we get back...but it wouldn't surprise me a bit if it wasn't.

We have found the other internet cafe that is about a mile from home. We will be walking here and hopefully we can post more often (today it is raining and Vasya drove us). We tried out one other and had no success doing anything so...this is the closet one that works!

Prayers...we can use them! And we appreciate them. Pray for the paperwork still - we need it by Tuesday a.m. at the very latest. Pray that things go well with the judge (they OUGHT to - his "expediting fees" are pretty high). Pray that the money holds out - so far, it is. We know we have at least $1000 worth of costs for the US Embassy and another $500 each for the orphanages. It will be close, but hopefully, it will be fine. Pray for Vasya - he talked to us a bit more last night and his baby turned 4 months old on the 30th. His wife and son had a hard time the last 2 months of her pregnancy and his son has some problems and has to see the doctor every month. Of course since he is here with us, he isn't there with them and you can imagine, that would be tough. He is a great guy - and he misses his wife and son.

Vissyo!