Rest of Day 7, some of Day 8

I am loosing count of what day I am on, but I am pretty sure it is Day 8. We rode back on the train to Kiev on Monday night. It was 16 hours and it was a first class cabin instead of the 2nd class that we rode the first time. It was much cleaner and more comfy. They had a TV in the cabin, but it only played one channel in Russian, so we didn't really benefit from it. I slept most of the way from my antivert, phenegran, and scopalamine patch combo. Sean hates the train most of all, but he did ok this time.

We made it to Kiev at 9 am on Tuesday and we were greeted at the train station by our driver. He doesn't speak any English, but he is very nice and carries my luggage for me (up and down hundreds of steps). He took us to our apartment, which is pretty nice. It is much bigger than the other places that we have stayed. We paid $75 a night for it. We ate breakfast at McDonalds, which is only about a block from us. We then rested for a while. We ate at a little cafe for dinner. We ordered these fried flour things with cheese in it (meat and cheese for Sean). They tasted like a really greasy grilled cheese. I didn't like it much and won't order it again. The picture looked much better than the food tasted.

The the Nalles called us and we met them at Independence Square. They are adopting Aaron. They were jet lagged, but they were very good company and they showed us around Kiev a little. they have court on Thursday and then again next week. No one has ever adopted any children from where Aaron is, so please pray for them that everything goes smoothly.

Today I wonder if Anton and David missed us visiting them. I wonder if they know that we missed visiting them. I don't think that David cares or not, but I bet Anton was wondering where in the heck we are with his banana, yogurt and water. He also thinks that Sean is his personal servant and play toy. Poor thing won't get to swing until we get back.

We didn't have internet access last night when we got home because the landlord didn't pay the bill, even though we paid our $5 to have it, but it was back on when we got up this morning (Wed). Olga and the driver picked us up at 830 am and then we went to the notary for about 45 minutes for some type of paper to be filled out. We then went to the SDA and officially applied for David's referral. We are suppose to go back at 2 pm and see if we can get the referral today. This process is just so crazy and I can't understand why it is so difficult to get kids that no one wants, that not one person has ever came and visited their entire lives. It just doesn't make sense and the process is so difficult that no wonder that aren't a lot of people trying to adopt these kids.

We did find some funny things on the road to the SDA. I bought some nesting dolls, a Kiev display egg, and wait for it....wait for it....A set of nesting Dallas Cowboy dolls with Tony Romo and other players on it. Sean's face lit up like a Christmas tree. The only thing that could have been better is if they had the triplets on them (Troy Aikman, Michal Irving, and Emmett Smith). Remember my dog's name is Troy Aikman, so can you see the pattern here? LOL!!!

So, here we are waiting for our appointment (that we have already had because they told us about both boys at the first one), to get the same paper that we already have to see the same boys that we have already seen. Crazy! But, it could be so much worse. I have read hundreds of blogs about times in UA and I am thankful for many things. I am thankful that....it is not 105 degrees and the weather is pretty nice, the food is easy and accessible, the region we are staying at has apartments with a/c and internet, the translater in region has a great relationship with everyone involved with the adoption, the boys look healthy and happy, and that we are finally going to start the court process.

May be getting on a train this evening if we get our referral, so may not update for a day or two. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and we get the referral that we need to move forward.

Stephanie