Sunday, March 2, 2008

Day 34 and 35……… Another Incredible Outing and Time Together





The weekends seem to go by quickly, fortunately……

Len is working on a watercolor of our outing yesterday to Chersoneses. A 5th century BC ancient Greek city…… it was absolutely amazing! The ruins are located within the city of Sevastopol, and is situated on the shores of the Black Sea next to an 19th Century cathedral. The contrast of all these elements is incredibly beautiful and very peaceful. Galya and Kostia were, again, our hosts. They have shown us some of the most wonderful places….. We feel fortunate to have this opportunity to see the country with Angella as well as with them.

For those of you that donated things to the “orphanage suitcase” at my shower in November, you’ll be happy to hear that we delivered everything today. The girls all crowded around and smiled gleefully as each and everything was pulled out. They were thrilled to see such colorful and wonderful things. And excited for things that they could “do” and with which they can be creative! So Thank You! for helping to make a real difference in the lives of 8 special girls! :)

Back at the apartment, we decided to finally show her the clothes that we brought for her. It was so fun to see her model each and everything and giggle with excitement. The jeans I bought were too big and actually fell to her knees! We all got a great chuckle out of that!!! The dress and tights we bought for the court date looked adorable. See photo above – taken upon her request! She wore an outfit from the Desky Dohm at the court hearing so this was the first time she saw this. She loved it!

We headed to the market to get a few things and came back home to work on her English. I’ve started a little “homemade” workbook for her with various phrases in English – similar to the ones we learned before coming to Ukraine….. It seems to be working and she enjoys reading/studying together…. So later tonight, I will work on tomorrows lesson! We watched Animal Planet (fortunately, we can follow along even though it’s in Russian) and worked on another art project. We fixed an early dinner. Pasta with sautéed vegetables and spinach in a concoction of spices, garlic, onions and olive oil. So far we haven’t made anything that she has turned her nose up to!!! Len compares her eating capabilities to that of Zach, Ian and Eric….. I can’t imagine my trip to Sam’s Club for a dinner with all of the them! She loves to help in the kitchen and as she says “kuke”, her way of saying, “cook”! She insisted on making the cucumber and tomato salad. After an assortment of spices and pre-made olive oil vinaigrette she was finished. I must say, it was quite good! :)

We are starting to feel homesick so please, send comments and emails to us at pam@entwinedonline.com as much as you’d like…… it really means a lot to us…… and helps to pass the time. Tomorrow we move into another week of daily 4-6 pm visits……

We’re counting the days to March 12. That is the day we get our court decree and the day she will say her good-byes to her home, friends and “mamas”. From then on, she will be with us… She, like Len and I, can’t wait!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like you have yourself a girly girl. Enjoy. You will have so much fun.

Love the pics. I remember visiting the Greek Ruins. It was so beautiful. Did you get any pictures of the big Bell?

Home will be here before you know it.

God Bless,
Gail

Steven said...

Just caught up through the month of February - this is very exciting stuff! It's like I'm reading someone else travel journal, then I realize that she's my new cousin! How exciting! Can't wait for Christmas, it's gonna be quite international with Jill there, haha!

Cheers, good luck, the end is in sight, can't wait to see you guys again back in the States!

-Steven