Friday, Day 4

This was a great day! We left with our facilitator at 7:30 a.m. to travel to Novoukrainky, about 30 kilometers from Rivne. We had hired a local man with a car to be our driver for the day. No seat belts in the back! I was so proud of Michael. The minute we started to drive at breakneck speed down a pot-holed country road, Michael calmly leaned forward and said, "Excuse me. Are we in a hurry?" Inna then asked our driver to slow down, and it solved the problem for the rest of our four-day stay in Rivne. We also talked to Inna about money, and that also helped tremendously. Out driver spent the entire day driving and waiting for us at various offices, and he only charged us 300 hryvnas (about $40). What a deal!

So as I was saying, we went to Novoukrainky to meet with the orphanage inspector, a very nice lady. She went with us back to Rivne to the orphanage to meet with the director. Everyone was fully expecting us and knew all about us. The director said Sasha had shown her our pictures and told her all about us. We were told that during the past year, only one other couple had come to that orphanage to adopt, a couple from Texas.

Everyone was so kind to us. We visited for a while, and then they said they would send for Sasha to come to the office. Michael and I got up to stand near the door. We both started getting teary-eyed. Then in came Sasha. We hugged and laughed. I hope to be able to post pictures tomorrow.

Talking with Sasha was like there had been no time interval since he left. It was just as natural as can be. We were soon laughing about our day at Lagoon etc. Sasha was asked to name the people in our family, and he said with his cute accent "Lori Lawrence, Michael Lawrence, Marissa (said Mawissa), Quinn, Gage, Eric." And then he added "Patrick." Patrick is Quinn's best friend. Michael and I thought that was cute.

Within thirty minutes, the director and inspector had given their "stamp of approval" and Sasha was writing his formal letter. Then Sasha was whisked back to school, and we were off to Novoukrainky again to the notary's office etc. etc., which took the whole afternoon. While waiting outside, Michael and I discovered an outside "farmers" market. We have great pictures soon to come. We made one big purchase, a tube of toothpaste. (Our toothpaste had been confiscated at the Munich Airport, and we had been brushing our teeth with Listerine.)

We finally got back to our apt at four p.m. Inna went to do some more paperwork at the orphanage. When she came back, she had Sasha with her. The director said we could keep him until Sunday night! We were thrilled but not prepared for this. We did not bring clothes for Sasha as we are expecting to only get through court before December 22, when all government offices close until January 10. I did come prepared with things to do, however. We spent the night coloring, playing Barrel of Monkeys, computer games, Twister, listening to music. We brought some Ukrainian children's books and told Sasha he needed to read a chapter. He did so with Igor. I believe his reading is poor, but his math isn't terrible. He does know his times tables and understands fractions. At one point I led him to the tub and made him bathe. I think he shampooed, but later that night when I hugged him, the aroma was still pungent. Maybe his clothes? No washing machine here. Maybe I'll wash his clothes in the sink, and he can wear my sweat pants and shirt for a day while his clothes dry. No dryers and also no clothing stores here. What I wouldn't give for some boy's underwear about now.

We had to figure out where Sasha would sleep. The three of us ended up sleeping crosswise on the bed so there would be room. Michael's and my feet hung over the edge, but it was okay. That first night, I was lying between Michael and Sasha. Sasha leaned over and smelled me and said, "Mmmmmm." (I have great-smelling lotion.) Then he put his hand over his heart and said, "Mom, I love you." Yes, it was very sweet and heart-warming.

Then Michael and I laid awake half the night and talked about our great kids back in the US and how much we miss them. Yes, even Eric is back in the States (Wisconsin) for about a month for training before leaving for Iraq. We can't wait to get back to Kiev Monday night where we hope to have Internet, post my diary on the blog, and be back in better touch with our children. That means saying good-bye to Sasha for a week or so.