We finally had court yesterday. Everything went well. Sasha did better than we had expected. Tania was wonderful. David had to answer most of the questions. I was thrilled that he had that opportunity instead of me. Even though he has had a lot of testifying in court experience he was a little nervous. I was nervous. Marina said she was nervous about translating for the court. It sounds like the judge asked the same questions that others have put in their blogs so I won’t repeat them. One of the witnesses talked to us afterwards. She was so touched that we were adopting the kids. She even asked the kids to write to her in a month.

WE ARE SO HAPPY THAT IS OVER!

As for the rest of the week it has been pretty uneventful. We have been spending more time with the kids. Tania has a gerbil that she loves to play with. The other day she put the gerbil down Sasha’s shirt. (Doesn’t that sound like a typical teenager?) Sasha handled it all very well. When Sally, the gerbil, went down his sleeve he was very patient and gently helped Sally out of his shirt.

Earlier this week we bought Tania some shirts. It was amazing to see how appreciative she was. These kids just don’t have a lot of material items. It really makes me grateful for the things that I have.

Wednesday afternoon the whole city of Sumy did not have any water. It finally came back on Thursday morning. We didn’t sleep well that night. We were so worried that if there wasn’t any water they might cancel court. We have had lots of water issues while we have been here. There is nothing like being in the middle of your shower and all of a sudden there isn’t any water. The hot water is supposed to come from the city but if you want to take a shower in the morning it is sometimes at the most warm.