Last full day in Krivoy Rog!

Today was the last full day that we will be in Krivoy Rog, Ukraine--and it was actually the first day that we could say that we saw blue sky and the sun!  Tomorrow evening we're off to the the train station for our 31 hour trek home!  

Dema really wants to come with us...NOW, but in 2 short weeks I will be back here to finalize the adoption. 

 When we arrived, I assumed that we were staying the taj mahal of Krivoy Rog, but Svetta told us that these houses area in fact the most sought after properties in the city.  The residents can have their own gardens, and best of all, a level of privacy that does not exist in the towers.

 
Today was another "off" day for the kids--no one was themselves!  There are many factors at work contributing to this feeling, but we shouldn't go into detail here.  When return home, please ask us!  In the mean time, these children, and every child that has visited us in America needs all of the prayer support they can get!

Here is yet another Vola--I think that she is 3rd that we have met in these past few weeks!  She joined us for some snacks and a couple games of picture bingo.  Then, like the others who have joined us, she disappeared as quickly as she arrived.

This is the most smiling we saw today, the girls had a chance to Skype with Lena, Erik, and Dema who are in Kiev.  

Well, tomorrow is IT!!!  Our second day of adoption court.  Our in country attorney said that the judge has heard all of the testimony she needs from Dema and from us, so if all goes as we hope, and she has planned, the director from the mentally handicapped orphanage will testify to the fact that Dema's older brother is not able to leave the orphanage to testify on his own behalf.  That director has already submitted all necessary documents supporting the separation, and stating that Dema's brother could do physical harm to himself and others if he were to leave his comfortable surroundings.  So, as far as we know, this is just a formality.  We believe that Thursday's proceedings were in our favor, so we go with a confidence we didn't have for round 1!

 We have been told that this is it..."no more court", so everything we have been through to this point hinges on the judges decision tomorrow!  We will enter the court room tomorrow morning at 11:00, or time, 4:00am your time!  Once again, we are asking that you set the alarm clocks and pray for wisdom and discernment on the part of the judge.  Dema already knows what the outcome will be, he tells us daily Dema papa America January 20th!