The BEST day yet!

Yep, that was yesterday for so many reasons!

First off it was my Nannie's Birthday! I am so sad I wasn't able to be there for her party! Missed you and thought of you often yesterday, sorry I wasn't able to get through to you by phone!

We visited Eli yesterday morning for about an hour and a half and it was by far our best visit yet... when we arrived he was already outside playing with his group... imagine, 13 - 4 year olds running around outside in just shoes, socks, underwear and a hat... Clay would have loved to hang out with this group! He saw us and caught me off guard when he didn't come right to us, but instead was more focused on telling his caregiver that he was leaving with us... so I am thinking he likes to follow the rules- that is a good thing. We took him to another outside area of the orphanage where there was a bench/table (well it worked for that purpose) and we pulled out the coloring book and crayons that we had purchased for him and they were a huge HIT... he is still a scribbler but he does hold the crayon correctly and would try to color near the lines! He also purposely changed colors... not that he was coloring anything the right color, but he knew without a doubt when he wanted a new one. About 30 minutes into our visit the other couple from Louisville who are adopting from the same orphanage walked by with their son... we were all able to play together for the rest of the visit... we threw ball a bit, Eli took more of an interest in the ball than he had in the past and even improved his throwing arm... initially when he threw he would have his hand behind his head so when he released it would hit him in the back of the head and bounce off, good thing it was a soft ball.... Speaking of ball--- Jake- Mommy and Daddy are proud of you for making the Champions team- can't wait to get back home and watch you play again! So as our visit came to an end I always get anxious to see how Eli is going to react, he often goes into shut down mode .... but as Tonya (the interpreter with us) explained to him that we would be back on Monday he started to get sad and she told him to give us hugs and kisses goodbye and he ran to me and gave me the BIGGEST hug I have gotten from him yet, it was so full of LOVE... Kenny and I were both so encouraged to see that...

When we arrived back in Kiev we took some time to relax and watched the Italian Job movie... they had a funny one liner in the movie about not messing with the Ukrainians! and then we played a game of Rummy- Kenny currently is kicking my tail! and finally made plans to go to downtown Kiev with another couple the (forgive me ahead of time I am going to butcher the spelling of their last name) Anesko's... they are in the final days of adopting Max- a precious 2 year old who we have gotten to share a flat with for the last 2 days...we went to FRIDAYS and it was REAL American food! We had the works, appetizer, dinner and desert... such a nice treat... menus in English, potato skins and real chicken fingers... and then once back at the flat and with Max down for bed we watched Bruce Almighty... a fun flick!

But we had one more treat for the night... Kenny and I set our alarm to get up at 2am to call home... there were several people over at our house working on Eli's room... so fun to talk to so many people...we can't thank you enough for doing this for us... we are sure Eli is going to love his new home and what you all have put together for him! What a FUN surprise it will be for all of us! Kenny and I have talked over and over again about how lucky we are... we have the best family and friends any two people could ever hope for. Thanks for all your support... we so look forward to getting to the internet to be able to read the emails and comments on this blog, it becomes the hilight of our days! so keep them coming ;)

Tomorrow we may be moving to Pryluky for 5 or 6 days... so that we can visit Eli every day until we get to take him with us for good! We will keep you posted! Miss everyone

All our Love,
Shannon and Kenny