A Sweet Day

Today was not as "action packed" as the previous days, but it was sweet. We were scheduled to take paperwork to the judge this morning in order to receive a court date. However, the paperwork did not get finished because of further medical testing needed by the girls, so Mark and I ended up "hanging loose" until about 2:00 this afternoon.

Our downtime felt strange because we've been going so hard the last several days . . . weeks . . . months! But we were able to take a nice walk in the neighborhood around the TLC. There are several small stores nearby, and we also enjoyed seeing the flowers, especially the irises. Then we came "home" and sat on a sofa together and read. It has been ages since we've sat down and read together for any length of time! It was wonderful!

At 2:00 Tanya drove us to the orphanage and we met Zhanna and Ella there and sat and visited with them in a private room for more than an hour. It was fantastic! We talked and talked - just the four of us. Mark pulled out the English-Russian dictionary and we were able to cover several topics of conversation that way. We laughed together and ate candy and played with the official orphanage pet - a rat named Lareesa! (It's not as bad as it sounds - it's a very small domesticated and very tame brown and black rat with at least some hair on its tail!).

At about 3:30 the teacher, Oksana, came to get the girls to go rehearse for a performance they are in tomorrow afternoon. We were invited to go watch. What a special treat! It was the first time we were able to sit in an audience as proud parents and watch these two children perform. We were WOWED! I can honestly tell you that Zhanna and Ella are coming into the right family. They are every bit as talented and dynamic on stage as their older brother and sister, Nathan and Annie! Zhanna and Ella have the lead roles in all the dancing and singing numbers in the show, and truthfully, they are amazingly talented young ladies! (I'm not just saying that because I'm their mother, either!). The show is in Russian, of course, but it doesn't matter. The elegance and playfulness of the dancing and the quality of their singing voices is mesmerizing. Tomorrow we will go to the actual performance and will take our video camera. Our first video of our new children!

When we left the orphanage we went to the grocery store with Tanya. They have a large grocery store close by called the "Amstore." It rivals Wal-mart! (Okay, almost, but not quite!). We had fun helping Tanya shop for the family at the TLC. We insisted on buying chocolate for everyone, and it was enjoyed tonight after a good dinner of cabbage, radish and onion slaw and pasta and chicken. What a great day!

Tomorrow morning we will wait until the medical tests are completed and then take all the paperwork to the judge. Hopefully we will be given a court date soon. Vanya is traveling here tomorrow. He will pick up all our paperwork and personally carry it to Kiev where he will deliver it to the SDA on Monday morning. What an amazing week! Last Monday we just met before the SDA and were able to come to Mariupol, meet with the girls, receive permission to adopt the girls, go before the judge, and have all the paperwork returned by next Monday! Whew! God is so good, and Vanya and Tanya and Arkadi are all working so hard on our behalf. We have so much to be grateful for.

One more piece of good news. Tanya asked the director of the orphanage if Zhanna and Ella could come to church with us on Sunday. The director gave her permission. Yes! It will be the first time we go to church together as a family! We are looking forward to that.

We are feeling happy and peaceful and blessed. It is all good and it is all in God's timing. Thank you for your prayers.
Love,
Dawn and Mark