Where is Yarik?

Today was a holiday in Ukraine so no offices were open.  We had 1 thing that we needed to accomplish.  We needed to get a letter from Yarik saying that he is ok with Tanya and Bogdan being adopted.  We had been to the orphanage 4 times already trying to find him but he is never there and no one ever knows where he is.  We went to the orphanage 1st thing because the students that are graduating from the orphanage have exams.  Everyone was there, taking their exams except Yarik.  So, instead we headed to the camp to see if Tanya might be able to reach him.  It was raining today so they let us go in to the camp!  We got to go to Tanya's room and meet some of the girls that stay in her room.  Ellie brought an American teen magazine and the girls had fun looking at it.  They knew all the stars names.  They even knew who was dating who.  I wish we would have brought more of those magazines because they loved them.  They were also excited to play their Justin Bieber music for us.  I knew the words and Alona told Tanya something about her mama knows Justin Bieber songs.  She seemed pretty impressed!  They also liked looking at our family photo album.  They all love the babies that are in the pictures.  We brought Bogdan a toy car that has batteries and he liked that.  He ate about 10 pieces of gum before we saw him and made him stop.  We think he swallowed most of it, but we aren't sure.  At one point, Jody was on the floor coloring with one of the boys there and Bogdan came up from behind him and grabbed him around the neck in a big hug.  Then he climbed on Jody's shoulders.  He had a huge smile on his face.  He is definitely warming up to Jody alot.  He walked to lunch holding his hand.  He will look at me and smile now but anytime we speak English to him, he looks away.  I think he is very uncomfortable when he doesn't understand us.  But overall, we felt like today was much more comfortable.   At 2:00 pm, they eat lunch so we had to wait in the car while they ate.  They ate in about 10 minutes and came to find us.  Tanya told Alex that she also would like to try to drive like Bogdan did the other day.  We thought this was good and shows that she is feeling much more comfortable with us.  They told us we could stay until 3:00 today.  Alex let Tanya sit in his lap and drive the car.  She did really good.  Bogdan motioned for Jody to get in with him so he could ride in his lap.  Maya came with us.  She is one of the 4 children that our friends from New Braunfels just adopted and she is so sweet!  She speaks a little English so that was helpful.  Tanya drove us to the store and we got the kids an ice cream and some sunflower seeds.  They wanted us to try Ukrainian sunflower seeds because they are different.  They don't have salt on them.  Tanya called her oldest brother Yuri a few times on the phone.  He told her that Yarik had been at home but left around 11 am.  Usually it takes about 4 hours to get back to the orphanage on the bus.  Ellie had to go to the bathroom so bad while we were at the store.  They told us where the bathroom was and we went, but once we saw it Ellie decided she would rather go in the woods.  The girls said this is just like the toilets they are using at camp.  Ugh.  I can't wait to get them out of there.  After they finished their ice cream, Tanya drove us back to camp. We found a generic ripstick in the mall yesterday so we brought it to the camp today.  We showed her how to do it and we left it there so she can practice.  It was a really good day with the kids.  At 3:00 we headed back to the orphanage.  Of course, no one knew where Yarik was.  Someone said he was there about 10 minutes ago but then left.  The lawyer at the orphanage told us that he will be there tomorrow at 9 am for exams.  We will go back then and see.  The older kids can leave the orphanage any time they want to.  They don't even have to tell anyone where they are going.  Sometimes they run away from the orphanage for a few months and then come back.  Hopefully, we will be able to find him tomorrow.  We need his letter to start the separation process.  We should find out when court will be in the next few days.  We are so anxious to get through court so we can come home. After court the 10 day waiting period begins.  When it's over, I will travel back and pick the kids up.  It's not quite as easy as picking them up and I will have to stay about a week but that is nothing compared to this.  We are so homesick.  We miss the boys terribly.  I love getting emails from home and we cry every time we read them.  Last night we talked to the boys on the phone and all of us were crying (here and there).  This is a really long time to be away and it's such an emotionally draining process.  God is giving us the strength we need to make it through but it is still hard. Here are some pictures from today.  Oh, and 1 from yesterday of Ellie ice skating.  She got to skate for 3 sessions (45 minutes each) and she was getting pretty good.  She even made a friend who spoke a little English.  We came back to the mall tonight to get Wifi but they are doing something to the ice so she couldn't skate.

Ellie and her friend ice skating

Jody with Bogdan on his shoulders  

This is the outside of their cabins.

Ellie and Tanya on Tanya's bed.

Jody and Bogdan

Maya, Tanya, and Ellie

Tanya learning to ripstick

Tanya practicing driving

This is the grocery store where we bought ice cream.  The lady who worked there asked Tanya if we were her family and she said yes :)  She said she was very happy we were adopting them.

This is the toilet at the store and it's just like the ones the kids are using at camp.

Bogdan holding the ripstick.  I was so excited because he was doing this but put it down before I took a picture.  I got my camera and told him to do it again and  he understood what I was showing him to do, even though I was speaking English.

Jody was trying to ripstick with Bogdan.  He can do it with the boys at home but this one doesn't hold his weight very good.