I hope y'all's last few weeks have been good. Mine have! Two weekends ago, Tim & I went canoeing with the Tygarts. It was Josh's first time. He had not previously done anything like that. I think he really enjoyed himself, though, some of the time he seemed a little bored. The water was not as high as in the past which makes for more work. He had started in a canoe with Anthony; and they seemed to be OK, but after a while Anthony became frustrated because Josh was not picking up on it as quick as Moises had when we took him. But Moisés spoke better English so caught on a little easier. After we had stopped to eat we moved Josh into Tim's canoe; and that worked good. They had a good time together; and Anthony and Mark had a blast. We did the "long run" of the river... All 13 miles. With the water down we had to work really hard. I think it clearly showed some of us that we are not as young as we used to be!! Oh well. The exercise was good; and the fellowship was GREAT! After the day on the river we went to Jerry's for catfish dinner. Josh loves fish so we thought that would be a good place to end the day.

I can't believe school has been going for two weeks already. I so wish Kristina and Alyona were here. I am concerned about how far behind they may be in their studies. Getting them into a school over here as young as possible will help us get the most help from the school district. I just don't want them to feel as though they spend all day in school, then come home to hours & hours of homework. I want them to embrace the idea of learning all they can learn, but not be overwhelmed by it.

This has been a hard week for me. To think, my youngest is now a junior in college. And he was so nice to point out to me the other day that if I thought I was old now just wait until the girls were graduating from college! I was shocked he would say that. I mean I guess he thinks sixty will be old. Well, come to think of it, I won't be a spring chicken! LOL!

We have made lots of progress with the adoption this last couple weeks. We have completed everything the case worker needed us to do: Finger prints, shots for cats, fire extinguishers, all new batteries in the smoke detectors, wire transfer for interpreter, and the passports arrived in the mail. That was a big praise, as we can now petition the Ukrainian government to confirm both girls are eligible for adoption. We needed the passport numbers to be able to initiate that process. Our case worker is hoping that all of the questionnaires from our references will arrive Monday so she can come to our house on Tuesday or Wednesday to finish up her side of the home study. The last thing we will need to do for her then is a 10-hour parenting class.

Wow! I stand amazed at how God can bring things together so quickly. So far, whenever we have needed to write a check to pay for something the money has been there. Praise the Lord! This week one of our income tax checks came in. We filed late this year; and normally this would be something to frown upon, but I guess I can't complain too much this time. If we had filed on time, then we would have spent the money by now. Instead, now, one day before we had to process the wire transfer, we received that amount plus a little extra in the mail!

My mom surprised me the other day. She said her and my dad had been talking; and if for some reason Tim had to come home from Ukraine early, and Christopher was still in school, she would be more than willing to fly over, so that I would not be alone. That shocked me. She has never been very adventurous, and that she would be willing to go half way around the world was cool. So, we will see how God wants to work it all out. I have had an aunt and uncle from southern Illinois visiting for the last few days; and that has been neat. I look forward to taking the girls up there to meet some of their new extended family, once they get here and have settled into the new surroundings. I hope when they come they have some pictures of their parents. They were so young when they lost their mom and dad. I want them to be able to remember all they can of them. It is their past, and an important part of them.

Lynn