For Brett

When Lena and Sara found out they were going back to Ukraine, their first request was to do something for their friends in their orphanage. Their cousin Brett heard about this and decided for his Eagle Project he would get stuff for the girls to take. He did an amazing job and made bags full of stuff for big boys, little boys, big girls and little girls.

Bags in our Ukraine apartment

Inside the bags.

The journey for the bags started at our house when we put them in three duffel bags. They each weighed around 50 pounds, or so we thought.
At the airport, we found out one bag weighed 57 and the other 43. Oops! Bad weighing job. We made a scene at check in and moved 7 pounds of stuff from one bag to the other. Jeff started cursing the bags. I assured him it would be worth it.
We weren't sure if they would make it to Ukraine, but they did. We were so happy when we saw all our bags. Kostya was there to pick us up in his small car. Jeff and I said no way they would fit, but they did. Barely!
Lena was a little squished.

We were on the fourth floor in our apartment in Kiev. No one wanted to use the tiny elevator, after Kostya told us he got stuck in it recently.

So Jeff and the girls carried the bags up the stairs and then back down again when we were ready to go. They were all cursing the bags. I kept telling them it would be worth it. Then came the train. We had to carrying the bags up and down many flights of stairs in the station. We had to pull them a half mile till we got to our train car.

Then we had to pull them down this narrow hall with angry, annoyed Ukrainians pushing us and muttering under their breath. The girls were whining by this point and even I was wondering about the bags.

We somehow crammed them all into our tiny compartment and back out again at 5 in the morning and off the train. By the time we had pulled them in freezing, I mean seriously freezing, and snowy weather to the train station and up and down more stairs, we all began to wonder if it would be worth. I tried to remind us that it would be.

And it was worth it, ever so worth it!

I don't know who was happier, my kids giving or the orphans receiving.

The little boys were afraid to take stuff out of their bags because every time they did, the big boys would try to take it from them. No worries, Jeff took care of that.

This little girl was so cute. It was her first week in the orphanage. Lena and Sara felt sorry for her, they made her bag extra special. When we left, she ran to Lena and gave her a big hug and told her thank you. Made Lena's day.
Sara wanted to put candy and extra stuff in two bags for her best friends. I couldn't wait to meet them.
When I saw her give these two boys the bags and gesture excitedly for me to come meet them, I started to cry. For all who know Sara, it will be no surprise. My sweet Sara who loves everyone, of course, these would be her best friends.
Cute Sasha still looks the same. We tried to Skype with his friend Alex back home but our connection wasn't so great. When he saw Alex's face he smiled excitedly and started yelling Alex's name and motioning for all the boys to come see.

Lena's best friends. They were very grateful and kept telling us thank you. Lena said they put all their stuff on the floor in their room and shared with the girls who weren't there when we handed it out.

As we drove away, we turned back to see them in the window eating the candy we brought. Jeff and the girls said, "You were right, it was worth it."