Best friends

I titled todays blog Best Freinds for several reasons. The first one is that I miss my best friend, Rob. Yep it's great being married to your best friend but it stinks when you are apart. He did finally get a flight out today and will hopefully be home sometime soon. It was much nicer for me and the boys when we were both there, although they are really enjoying babushkas company and hugs and such. My other best friend Christine I miss terribly as well. Don't get me wrong, I miss ALL my friends but had to mention my best friends by name today as it is fits with "The Rest of the Story".

The second reason is because I found out who Vanyas best friend is today and it was soooo precious to see. The little girls name is Luba and she has not feet so she goes out in a stoller when they take her outside. She can scoot across the floor just as fast as the other kids inside though. It's amazing. She has the cutest personality as well. She sits at Vanyas table for meals and everything. When I went to pick him up today the rest of his group was outside but for some reason he was still inside along with a couple of other kids, Luba being one of them. When I got him dressed to go outside in came Luba and the caregiver said," Say Paka Luba". So she said Paka Vana and then he went over and put his arms around her and said paka luba and then gave her a kiss. They continued saying goodbye to each other and laughing all the way out the door. When he saw that Luba had come outside he ran towards her and gave her a big hug and then tickled her under her chin and they both just laughed hysterically (sp?). Even the caregivers were laughing. Then what he did next was amazing. He took her hat off (not the diaperhead) and fixed her pony tails! Yep he knew to gently take the ends of the hair and pull them in opposite directions to make them tighter. Then he put her hat back on and gave her another big hug and kiss and then they laughed again. All we heard about today was Luba. She is sooo cute and I know they are going to miss each other alot. I could see it in the eyes of the caregivers that he is very sweet to her and she just loves him being with her. The other kids in the group just ignore her and simply hold on to the storller as they are told. My little casanova is going to melt some hearts I think.

When we went to Yuri's today he was a little tired and out of sorts. Not very talkative today. Usually Adrey shows up right after we get there but today we didn't see him at first. We told him we would go swimming again today and he sort of just looked like "Well, OK, if we must" and usually he is excited about that. When we started walking toward the river we ran into Terry Muesen's nephew John (Sasha) Muesen who had been adopted from there about 3 years ago. What a charming young man and so full of the Lord! We chatted with him a while and exchanged stories and such which was great. Yuri was still just standing there and then Andrey came! He just lit up and was happy with everyone again. I think it is hard for him when he knows that neither of us understand him but Adnrey is also the one who he looks up to and who takes good care of him. I think Andrey has become his best friend. I know he has friends in his group too though.

Igor is now back and we are making plans to go spend a few days with Victor. Probably Sunday through Wednesday or Thursday. It will be great to be able to spend some additional consistant time getting to know him better. Already he is getting the middle child syndrome. Since his orphanage is in the middle of nowhere I may not be able to post for a while but rest assured I am still here. There will be rejoicing when I finally get to go pick the boys up for good. Keep praying that there is no problem trying to get the balance of the paperwork and birth certificates and flights and such finished up. I appreciate all the prayers; keep 'em coming. THe final stretch is somewhat hectic and I will have 3 very frightened, out of sorts, little boys to travel with for many hours on planes, trains, and automobiles. I know God will be with me and help me comfort them the best I can along with Babushka.
Love to all,
Laura