We made it to Mariupol Tuesday morning sometime. Again, no sleep the night before, but we don’t mind because we are really not wasting anytime here! Right when we got in to Mariupol, we started the paperwork process. Or I guess I should say our Facilitator started the paperwork, we just waited in the car…for hours! All day we spent going to the social worker’s office, the boarding school to work with the director, the bank, the notary/attorney’s office, the court, the photocopy office. We ended up going to our apartment that night around 9:30pm. We were all extremely tired.

We ran into an issue that is now a mole-hill but could have been a HUGE mountain. I won’t go into much detail because it is long. However we thought we were going to have to fly home on Wednesday and come back a couple months later, but we got it all worked out in the end. We had to drive to Donetsk City Tuesday morning to meet with the Judge at one of the courthouses to try and get everything straightened out. We gave the right people a smile and a wink and we were good to go! :)

The best news of all is that we have been able to spend a little time with the girls the last couple days!! The first time we went to the boarding school we were walking up to the front entrance and Tanya comes running out to give us a hug, she was so excited!! She then went in to find Luba. We went to sit in the director’s office for our interview with her. That was a little nerve-racking seeing as she is not the nicest person in the world. They called in Tanya and Luba to ask them a few questions as well. Then after that was all done, we were able to go into another quiet room to spend time with the girls. We ended up playing Go Fish, Uno, Tic-Tac-Toe, and just talking. We had a good time!

Yesterday (Wednesday) we were only able to spend about 30 minutes with them so we had them try on their clothes to see what fit and what didn’t. Hopefully today will be a longer visit. By the way – families preparing to go, take clothes with you if you know sizes!! For the most part everything I bought for Tanya and Luba fit, but there were a few things that did not. We went shopping last night to get new items for those that did not fit, and spent $200….ouch. This was for 2 pairs of pants, and 3 shirts.

In other good news, we have a court date for next Tuesday, September 24th!! Hopefully everything will go well. As of now, I think Ken will just stay here after court during the 10 day wait as it will save us a little money. I will go home so that I can get back to Kyle and work (I know you are excited Ashley)!

So far our journey in Ukraine has been busy but good! We have felt like we have been on a roller coaster ride, both physically and mentally. Literally, the roads are horrible, and we have been car sick numerous times! So mom, Jordan, and Jenny – I was thinking about you on our car rides, and thinking how it would probably be the worst sickness you would ever experience! Trust me! :) But as for everything else, our process has been quick. We have run into a few things that have taken a little extra time, but most of all everything has been working out; knock on wood.