We Are Alive

I have not had internet for 5 days. Sorry to everyone who has emailed I haven't had a chance to respond yet. I finally have contact to the outside world again.

It has been fun to have the girls with me. They have been so excited to be out of the orphanage. Everyday they wake up with big smiles and say, "No more orphanage." It is so funny.

The day we took them out of the orphanage their teachers cried, their friends cried, Mary cried, but the girls and I jumped for joy and ran out of the gates cheering. Poor Mary couldn't stop crying and I asked her what was wrong and she said she was crying for all the ones we were leaving behind. It was sad but I was so happy to be taking the girls out of there that it was hard to feel any other emotion.

After getting the girls we caught the night train and went to Odessa. We spent some time at the Black Sea and our crazy translator went swimming even though it was freezing. It was nice to get out of town for the weekend.

We then went to Kiev to pick up my mother in law and send Mary home. We have been travelling on the train so much and now we are back in Dnipro working on our passport and birth certificate. It is nice to be in one place for a minute.

My mother in law has been a great sport. She came in with jet lag and then we went on a night train, poor thing. I don't think she slept for three days. She has been a huge help and the girls are so excited to have her here. It has been fun to see her excitement and shock at everything here. The Ukranians love her because she is so excited about everything they show her. Our usually grumpy driver actually gave her a special tour of Kiev because she thought she was so fun. She is scoring us big points, they always tell me how great she is.

My Ukranian friends keep asking about Mary they got such a kick out of her while she was here. They think her boyfriend Boyd has the funniest name for some reason, and Mary they are still laughing about it.

Mary took the camera home with her so we don't any of the pictures that she took. Maybe Mary you can post some from home and write a little about your experience here. I would love for the girls to have it later on.

I will try to post more later, our internet is limited. Mary you should post the picture of the breakfast the girls made us. It was scrambled eggs with tons of shells and bread with ketchup and thick slices of cheese. We wanted to gag but the girls were so proud of themselves, so we made a show of eating it and then discretely threw the rest away.