Finally, nice weather here in Uglegorsk!!

When we arrived in Ukraine, the weather in Kiev was really nice.  It was mostly sunny with temperatures in the 70's.  Then we traveled to Uglegorsk and the weather has been cold and cloudy everyday.  That changed today.  Today, we had sunny skies and warm temperatures here in Uglegorsk.

After getting up this morning, we decided to walk the the market nearby to buy more food.  It took us about 15 minutes to walk there.  In addition to the food we needed ,we also bought a Hello Kitty activity book for Emily to do during our visit.  We completed our shopping and returned to our apartment in about an hour.

Shortly after returning from the market, Victor met us at our apartment with documents for us to sign.  These documents were petitions for court.  We discovered that we will not have court this week.  Hopefully, we will have court early next week.  It looks like we will have to reschedule Laura's return flight home.  Laura has to be here for court and she can not return home before then as we thought she could.

About an hour after signing the petitions for court, we went to the orphanage.  Another family from the United States joined us today.  Ray and Marie are from Virginia and they are adopting a girl from the same orphanage.  The girl they are adopting is named Inna.  Now, there are four families from the United States adopting from the same orphanage in Uglegorsk.  It great to have them here with us at the same time.  All them are very nice people and fun to be with.  We hope to keep in touch with all of them after we return home.

The first thing Emily did with us today was to open her Hello Kitty activity book.  After looking at it momentarily, Emily went to get her friend Rada to do the book with her.  Rada sat next to Emily and the two of them worked on the book together.  Emily's sharing nature is one of the countless things we love about her.  A few moments later, Masha joined them and the three best friends were all together.  Of course, I had to take advantage of the opportunity to take another picture of the three girls together.

A short time later, Rada had to leave so she could eat.  Emily stopped doing the activity book so she could finish it later when Rada would be there to work on it also.  Emily then finished the art project she started yesterday.  When Emily finished the project, she signed it in her new name.  The expressions on her face show how much she loves her new name.  She has a new name, new family, new life, and a new beginning.

After playing on the computer for a little while, we decided to go outside to enjoy the nice weather.  Emily led us around the playground while children circled us seeking attention.  They asked us many questions and wanted to have to their pictures taken.  Several of them said they want to come to America.  I took several pictures of Emily playing on the playground.  I also had the opportunity to take pictures of her with some of her friends.  The following pictures are some of those I took.

Emily and Masha

Emily and Rada

Emily and Anastasia

Emily saw the taxi arrive to pick us up.  Emily was not happy we were about to leave.  She said "No" and buried her head into my shoulder.  We left a few of our things in the activity room.  Emily walked with me to get these things.  When Emily hugged us goodbye, she said "I love you" to us.  She said this before we had the chance to say it to her first.  It was a great moment.  The best moment in a trip that has been full of good moments.