Saturday at the soccer field

By the way, the mystery man must have come into the main room of the apartment and cut off the code to the washing machine. We just can't seem to make a break from socialism or maybe it just boils down to our great communication skills in Russian. We timed our departure from the apartment in order to make it across town to the last stop on the red line metro. We took some pictures since frankly in the fog and the mud it looks like every other stop on the metro. Yuri picked us up and he had precious cargo inside already, since he had picked up girl 'k' and Luda before he made it to our stop. We spent the afternoon with the boys and girl 'k' on the orphanage grounds playing soccer, socializing, and sharing hugs and smiles. After a lengthy recreation time in the cold fog, we headed inside to our favorite teachers conference room, where we hold high level discussions with everyone. The boys unfortunately couldn't leave the orphanage due to the directors orders about some quarantine to slow the spread of a head cold. We were puzzled with this and how it would reduce the chance of spreading it among the other kids.

We made the decision to leave the school with girl 'k' and Luda, because it was shower time for the boys. So we took the Ukrainian culture express mini bus back to civilization, then caught the metro to downtown Kiev. It was pretty exciting to walk through Independence Square, arm in arm with our new daughter. She comes in and out of creative moods just like any 13 year old would do, even American 13 year old girls. We sent her and Luda on their way to make a curfew time, while we found some internet access to blog with. Tomorrow we are joining with girl 'k' and other believers for a worship gathering near her orphanage. They have asked Chris to share a few words for tomorrow. Maybe he won't have to preach a sermon that he is not prepared to do Ha! We are making this entry short, because it has been a full Saturday. We are grateful for how you all are caring for our family, especially for kids at home. Thank you for taking meals over and making sure they have something to eat-they are loving it! (I think Alanna is enjoying it also) We are so grateful for Alanna!

Blessings,
The Nichols