GREAT DAY!!!

Today was amazing!  Such strides we are making and everything is falling right into place. Today was Sasha's physical and we also got his visa at the U.S. Embassy.  Wow, that was something.  It was tight security and bullet proof doors. 

We were in and out of the U.S. Embassy office in 15 minutes.  Our facilitators have this down to a science.  It was zippidy doo da!  No kidding, we walked right to the "adoption office" and had already filled out all of the paperwork so we zipped through quickly. Sasha's physical took a little longer though because he had to be examined and unfortunately had to have a rubella immunization.  It was everything I could do not to get on the floor to start kicking and screaming.  But honestly we realized that they would never let him out of the country without having this immunization.  It was freaky when they pulled the "potion" out of the refridgerator and showed us the expiration date on the bottle.  Ukraine is not quite where we are in medical advances, so we just looked at the bottle and smiled and said, "Help us Jesus!"  Youch!  They came right at his arm with some force behind that needle.  Wow, Sasha was brave, but mama yelled "ouch."  They also asked if we noticed any other problems with Sasha and I told them that he is a little bit crazy.  Everyone laughed but I think we all are a little bit nuts.  haha  Many times when Sasha does something funny Jeff and I say, "You crazy Ukrainian."  He says, "You crazy Americans."  haha.

The rest of the day was fun too.  We went to the mall and shopped for a remote control car.  Mr. Freddy gave him some Ukrainian money the other day so he wanted to go shopping.  Funny enough though when we got to the mall he didn't have his wallet. (Learned it from you PawPaw ..haha) Well we bought the car for him and when we got home he found his wallet and said, "Pay back papa."  So sweet! 

When we went to dinner  (at the same place) we had so much fun because the waitress remembered him and she let him translate again.. She smiled the entire time and let him be "the big boy." I'm pretty sure they were flirting with each other.  She was a beautiful young teenager she thought he was adorable.  When we paid, Sasha said, "Papa hurry, give me wallet."  He whipped that wallet out like he was in charge and was the head of the household.  We had lots of laughs today!  He also said the sweetest little thing.  He said, "Mama, I like you say to Sasha....you so cute Sasha."  haha.. He also loves when we call him a litle boy.
The poor boy never had a childhood so he is gonna have one now darnet!

We also bought him circus ticket for tomorrow nights circus.  Little did we know that when we got home he said he had been to the circle lots of times.  Oh dang...we could have been very happy without the thrill of the circus smell....oh well, it will be lots of fun....Jeff just loves the crowds! :)

Tomorrow we go back to pick up paperwork and then we are done!  It's truly hard to believe that I'm actually saying those words.  We will have lots of free time tomorrow and then go to the circus at 7:00 and then come right home to get into bed because we need to get up at 3:30 a.m. to make our flight.  We will have a full day of flying on Saturday.

This amazing journey is coming to and end.we are just in awe of all that God has done to give us faith to carry on.  I know that we only have a few years with Sasha and didn't get to have the first 11 years of his life but we will relish every minute of our time with him.  We are so thankful for this precious little boy. 

He really is sweet and although very street smart, seems to know right from wrong.  He kept telling papa and I to say these word in Russian.  It was "Coch de la."  After a while of him laughing  at our repeating these words, we thought this must be some Russian cuss words. He was cracking up....but then he told us it means "poop poop."  (For all of you who speak Russian, you can confirm that for me later..ha)  Shew!  He is very worldly but so very tender hearted!  He has a huge heart just like our Kyle!

Well, there is no way that any of this would have ever taken place if our sweet children were not so suppportive of us traveling to get their little brother.  It has been so hard on our family to be apart so many miles and for so many weeks.  Also Bobo and Poppy, Laurie and my Mom and Dad have been amazing.  Our parents have done laundry, cleaned, counseled our children and have worked tirelessly around the clock. Not sure how we will ever be able to thank them enough for all they've done!

Also,  I hesitate to point out just one or two friends, but we have to tell you how amazing the Perrills have been to us.  All of our friends are so dear and supportive, but Brenda Perrill has arranged and cooked so many meals for our family in our absence.  She has checked on our children and carried us through so much.  Thanks to Peter, we had everything imaginable packed.  He made sure no stone was unturned in the "being prepared" area.  We love you so much family and friends!  Thank you so much to everyone who has prepared a meal for our family.  It has made life so much easier on them! 

Going back out to get more food.  Sasha said again, "I hungry."  His scrawny frame will fill out quickly I feel sure.  We miss you all so much and can't wait to come home! 
love to you all,
m and j