Monday, June 30

I am feeling much better thank you. I ate some Activa yogurt in hopes that it would help and when all of you commented about it, I went out and got some more. I am definitely doing much better than yesterday's post.

We got to Dennis' orphanage at 9 am sharp and we only had to wait 10 minutes for them to get him ready.

Everyday he is becoming more and more curious. It is wonderful to see that the same things do not continually entertain him--- that he is interested in exploring his surroundings. Today Dennis showed us how strong he was by tossing around this full water bottle.

He wanted to play with this swing, but not for very long. During the morning visit, we took him
outside for a longer period of time. Dennis loves to watch the other kids play. Good thing because this afternoon, Kramatorsk got some rain.

Here is a picture of a woman doing laundry at the orphanage. With around 120 kids you would think that they would be doing laundry everyday, but they don't. It also appears that they only diaper the children that are being adopted because they ask the parents to buy diapers. In Dennis' room is a little girl probably not older than 3 months and everytime we come to get Dennis, I peak through the window to get a glimspe of her and she is lying in her crib naked from the waste down. It is pretty warm in the orphanage so don't worry about whether or not she is cold, but her tiny little cry is enough to make your heart ache. A couple of times that I have peaked in on her she was rooting because her arm had gotten free from her swaddle and it kept hitting her mouth. So cute, but oh so sad. But, I can blog about that on another day.

Here is the trash truck that I was telling you about. A man dressed way too nice for his job manuevers the levers to lift the trash can while a woman comes behind him and sweeps up all of the trash that is left behind. I hope that sometimes they take turns doing each others job.

This is a porch leading up to the inside of an apartment building that is under construction. I bet it will be this way for weeks if not months. This was how many of the bridges that we needed to cross to get to Kramatorsk from Kyiv looked. No detour, no notice, just drive until you realize that you are about to enter dangerous territory.


Today we went looking for shoes for Dennis at the big bazaar. Couldn't find any. :( I may just have to stuff the shoes I brought for him.

Lots of vendors were selling beautiful flowers. It smelled so good walking through this aisle.
One vendor was selling these paintings. I love the third one with all the bears playing.

On the way back to our apartment, I took some pictures. I don't know how these shops stay open. It is not like they were hustling with customers...... and today is a holiday.

Mannequins in Ukraine? No way! Hey doesn't that one on the left look a lot like my husband?

Trying to stay upbeat here......... got some disappointing news. The judge called our facilitator and told us that because he has so many criminal cases tomorrow he has moved our courtdate to Thursday. We just have to trust that God has a plan. Now if only those plans include getting our 10 days waived.