Half the summer...

Daniel and Andrew just  just figured out that  when  we are done here, they  will have spent half their summer in Ukraine... (probably a bragging right to a 11 yr. old boy)

Sorry, not many pics of the girls to post!  We have only been to the orphanage for a few minutes the last couple days.  Vika was eating lunch when we came and they wouldn't let us take her and play so we just had a few minutes with Nastya. :)

Actually, most of our last 2 days has been spent inside our faithful drivers van.   It is incredibly hot this week - mid 90's at least so of course in the van its even hotter!  We are back to the routine of sitting and waiting while our resourceful facilitator continues to push through with our paperwork.  So far she has legalized the court decree, obtained new birth certificates, and applied for the change of name on the girls Ukrainian social security code. The next big hurdle after receiving the updated social security code(we are told this can take up to 5 days) is applying for passports(and we are told this can also take 3 to 5 days).  Honestly it is so hard to predict the timing of events for the next 2 weeks.  One day we think we will be done here in Kharkov soon (something that was supposed to take forever doesn't) and then the next day it seems like we will never be done here (something simple takes forever!)  Our facilitator works so hard for us though. She is just amazing.    Thank you for continuing to pray for her and all that has yet to be done. We have been here now for almost 4 weeks. We are thankful for our time here but we are definitely longing to be home!!!

Thank you for  praying  specifically for these things:

1. girls new social security codes will come back quickly

2.  Our facilitator will find the info (the birth mothers citizenship)she needs for Nastya's passport

3.  That when the passports are ordered they will come quickly(in some regions this happens automatically, in ours it can be slower)

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Our trips to the orphanage are a bit sporadic right now.  I think legally we could pick up the girls now but actually we will probably wait until the day before we leave for Kiev - hopefully by next week sometime!  If we had them with us right now it would be sooooo difficult.    Sitting with them in a nearly 100 deg van for hours on end just seems miserable.  So, its  actually better for them to stay there for just a few more days - where their routine stays the same. Our facilitator advises her families to wait until the bulk of the paperwork chase is done before picking up their children and we are fine with that.  For now we will visit when we can and soon they will be ours!

And now for all you culinary experts...Ukrainian food is delicious!  We have eaten out a few times lately and have  pics to prove it!

Below is Vereniki...(kind of like ravioli, in this case they were filled with berries so it was our dessert but more often they  are filled with meat, potatoes, or cheese)  It was fantastic!

Andrew enjoying vereniki!

One of our usual outings with the twins in the evening is a walk down to the play park and then ice cream!  Sam, George is eating some ice cream for you!