Well, today was an exciting day! We bought clothes for the kids (shirts, shorts/slacks, socks, underwear). Also, we grabbed a hat for Adam, since he'd asked for one several times. Then, we bought some extremely delicious popsickles. One went to our wonderful taxi driver, who also took us through the market maze in our hunt for clothing. Then all of us had our popsickles, except Adam. I guess he was being punished for something, since he was sitting by himself in a chair and in a sullen mood. We couldn't take him right away because of whatever was going on. When we finally could take him, he was saying that he didn't want to come. But, when we handed him the food and melted popsickle, he warmed up quickly.

They loved their clothes. We have not seen bigger grins on their faces, and a little bit of hopping around took place, too! (Happy birthday, Aleksa!)

This afternoon, between visits, Vica called us. We were nervously excited, and then she told us what we wanted to hear!! Yippee! She's on a train right now, coming to Odessa, where the taxi driver will pick her up at 5:00 am tomorrow. They will get here a little while later, and our court appearance will be at 9:00! Woohoo! (Do I sound excited enough?)

When we got to the orphanage tonight, our children were in one of the musical thingies that we weren't allowed to interrupt before. But, I walked past the door, and saw Adam in his new shirt. He was one of the only children facing my direction, and he saw me. Shortly after that, I heard some noises and the word "Papa". In a little bit, they all came running out to see me. It was great to know that they got out as fast as they could, rather than waiting until the whatever-it-was was over. :oD

I tried to tell Adam about the court thing when we first found them, and I think he understood a little. About a minute later, he asked if we could (or when we would) go for a car ride. I tried to tell him that maybe in 2 or 3 days. While I'm not sure that he understood me exactly, his smile made me think that the message of "soon" came across well.

A translator for another couple agreed to explain about the court meeting to the children, since we might not be with them tomorrow because of this. Aleksa looked completely indifferent, probably because she didn't have a clue anyway. Liana was hard for me to read. It could have been a little fear, since she hasn't been on a train or anything like that before. But, she also could have just been trying to figure out what it all meant. The highlight, though, was Adam's face. He was beaming, and we could tell that this was VERY good news to him. That just sort of topped off the whole day. :o) We played around for a while after that, then had to leave. It was a pleasant parting, and we waved as we drove away. We blew kisses (Aleksa particularly likes that.) Aleksa trailed behind the other two, and grinned big as I kept waving and waving while we drove away.