Our 3 days in Kryvyi Rih

This is a picture of some of the roads in Kryvyi Rih. We decided we might have a better chance of surviving if we took the train.

It might look like slush, but it isn't. It is solid ice. The cars drive on the sidewalks in places to avoid it. So we took the electric train from Dnipro to Kryvyi Rih. It was a three hour ride.
On the way over, we loved it. Not too cold and a much smoother and safer ride than the car. On the way back to Dnipro, we weren't so sure. It was freezing cold. Only ride the electric train during the day or wear 10 layers.
This lady was singing in the train for money. Every where we go there is some beggar person asking for money, or bread. Sara is always worried about them. She tells me what they are saying and pleads with me to give them money or food, or whatever we have. I love Sara's tender heart.

Our apartment in Kryvyi Rih was like a fridge. We had to wear our coats and keep bundled up, even when we slept. Ha Ha!
The landlord insisted Jeff wear these kitty slippers. The girls got a huge kick out of it.


Main street in Kryvyi Rih and Lena's favorite blue church. She kept saying how cute she thought it was.
We spent three wonderful days with Zhenya. The director let us visit for an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon.




Lena noticed the finger Zhenya was using to touch the screen on the phone and said, "Look Mom, Dona will like him." Sorry, only funny if you know Dona, and then it is hilarious.
One day Zhenya was talking to Jeff and Jeff wasn't responding. Sara told Zhenya, "He can't understand you."

Zhenya said, "Yes he can."

Sara said, "He can't speak Russian, so no he can't."

He said without hesitation, "He can understand me because he loves me."

Zhenya loved to play doggy with me. He told me I was the mom dog and he was the baby dog. We barked at each other, then he snuggled up to me. It is funny, because he isn't usually comfortable with me touching him, but when I am a dog, he pets my head and hugs me.

A trick I learned from Dona's little girl Eli. She loves me best when I am a dog too. Zhenya doesn't like my kitty though, he says it scares him. Too bad, that is Eli's favorite. She loves scary kitty. We laugh our heads off. Sure miss my Eli.

When we told him we had to leave the last day, he said, "Are you coming back after lunch?" We told him we couldn't we had to go see Alina, his sister. He said, "My sister wants to come with you and I want to come with you."

It was so hard to leave that kid.


The director asked him if he wanted to come with us and he said, "Yes."

She said, "Are you sure, you can't change your mind and you can never come back."

He said, "Yes I want to go."

Sadly, he thought that meant right then and he was sad when he couldn't come.

Looks like we are winning the war. The more we are with him, the more certain we are that he is ours. I am not too worried about court anymore. We have come too far and been through too much to not get him now. You are right Christy, Zhenya is going to be ours.


Shelby and Mary, this is a stuffed dog on the couch at the orphanage. You were wondering. They have some pretty scary stuffed creatures. I think Ukrainians excel at decorating with stuffed things.


This our last night in Kryvyi Rih. I made potato salad because it sounded good, but the mayo was yuck. Then I tried a grilled cheese, but the cheese was yuck. I couldn't even think about the beet salad the girls were eating. They guaranteed me I would like the Ukraine version of Ramen noodles. Nope! They told me I couldn't waste food, I had to eat it. I said new rule, if you don't like it, don't eat it and I threw it all away. The girls and Jeff got a big kick out of it, hence the picture.