Happy Birthday Katya!

Katya had a birthday a few days ago and we were able to call her the morning of her birthday (well afternoon for her). We all stood in our kitchen before the kids went to school and sang her Happy Birthday. It was so much fun for us and I think she was pretty excited too :) She was very giddy on the phone. Then, one of her caretakers took her and Nastya and a few friends out to celebrate with ice cream and other goodies. I pray that she would just see a glimpse of how precious she is and how loved beyond measure she is by the Lord. I am thankful that we can bless her in this small way.

I just got pictures today of the fun they had. I am happy to share pictures of the girls with you if you ask - I know lots of people post pictures on blogs of children they are trying to adopt but I just don't feel good about their pictures being so accessible at this point. So just ask and I will email you - I would love to share their pics with people I know!

I was able talk with the girls a few days before that and we had probably the best phone conversation we've had yet. (Sometimes the phone talks are a little difficult with the translations and background noise - we are so glad we can talk but sometimes it just feels a little awkward). Anyways, last week I was driving to NASA for a field trip for Allee and was actually in the car alone because Allee was riding with her friend for awhile. I called the translator and talked to the girls - we talked so easily about summer and swimming and they wanted to know all about what the our kids were up to. I asked them if they knew how to swim - they said yes and Katya asked if we could swim ALL day one day this summer :) We talked about Katya's birthday and about their schoolwork. They asked about riding horses and we talked about that too. They told me all about being in the hospital with chicken pox and how glad they are that is over now. I told them at least they won't ever get it again. Katya said she knew one boy who got it twice but I told her that was pretty rare and not to worry about it :) Anyways I am glad for a good talk.

Please be in prayer about the visas for the summer trip - we have reason to be at least a little concerned that they either may not get the visas or that the trip will become very short. It has definitely been shortened by about 10 days - that is not too bad but we are just worried that with the difficulties in Ukraine that it could take a long time to get the visas and delay it even furthur. But at this point we can't dwell on it and are just planning for them to be here.