Our dream has come true...

A wise man once said "Life's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get". Well, our box of chocolates just got a little sweeter. We found our daughter!!!

We set out from Kyiv at 1 am Friday morning with Luba. Our driver's name is Ruslan, and he is a very accomplished driver. Perhaps he drives a little on the speedy side but he can swerve around pot holes like no one I have ever seen. He does not speak English so our conversations are limited. The trip to Nikopol took approximately 6.5 hours, of which neither Chris nor I got any sleep. Lucas, on the other hand was able to sleep at least 6 hours so he was bright and cheerful when we arrived. As you can imagine...we were not! We were tired, hungry, and looked quite unkempt. We stopped to have coffee and tea when we arrived because we were a little early and we needed to wait for the region's Inspector to arrive to work. Nikopol is located in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the southeastern part of the country. It is a small city with approximately 150 thousand residents (I googled it...) and it is a large exporter of manganese (also googled).

We visited with the Inspector at about 8:00am and she asked several questions, mostly about Lucas, and then she signed the paperwork to give us permission to visit the orphanage. We arrived at the orphanage at approximately 8:45. The orphanage is not too large but is well looked after and with several play areas outside. The inside is being remodeled (new paint and some new furniture) at the present since the majority of the children are in Italy...at summer camp. We waited in the corridor then we were shown in the Orphanage Directors office. She also asked a few questions, then at approximately 9:10am, a little girl entered the room. She was shy and quiet at first and she would steal looks at us occasionally when she thought we weren’t looking. We were taken to a separate room in order to give us some time to interact with her. There were some toys in the room and Lucas started building a house with the building blocks. She soon joined him and they began communicating through the international language of “play”. They were so cute together. Each would hand the other a piece to build with and we were struck with the apparent similarities in their personalities. She seems sweet, kind, and shy and she soon began to open up with us and smile (she has a beautiful smile) and interact more and more. She really loved it when Chris would lift her up in the air so she could see the top of the cabinets. During one of these “lifts”, she gave Chris a kiss on the cheek. The most interesting look flashed across Chris’s face. I believe I could actually hear the sound of her wrapping him around her little finger at that moment. Luba spent time talking with the orphanage doctor and director. When she joined us, she asked us how it was going. We said “We’re not leaving Ukraine without her”. It was funny, we didn’t even talk about it, all we did was look at each other and we knew she is the one. Lucas said “when can we take my sister home?”…he was hooked.

Luba found us an apartment 2 blocks from the orphanage so we will not need a driver during our 2-4 week stay here. We went to the apartment and were happy to find a 2 bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom & balcony awaiting us. It does not have AC but it has fan and the windows have screens so we can keep the windows open without bugs flying in. It also has a washing machine and AN IRON!! Whoohoo.

We took a much needed nap in the afternoon, then returned to the orphanage at 4:00pm. The director asked us if we wanted to adopt her and we said “YES!!”. She asked Lucas as well and he said yes too. She also asked the little girl if she wanted us to be her Mama, Papa & brother…and she smiled shyly and said “da” (yes!!!). We then took her outside and played on one of the many playgrounds and Lucas was so happy to have someone to play with. They are soooo cute together. Lucas said “I picked her picture. I want to take her home”. You can’t ask for anything better than that!!

We left her at the orphanage and made our way to a supermarket…of course it took us an hour because…yep…you guessed it…we went the wrong way…sigh. We bought some food and carried it home and made dinner. Luba and Ruslan returned and we put Lucas to bed. Chris and I set off to try to find an internet café. After an hour of searching (and asking about 5 different people in our limited Russian) we were unsuccessful. I was bursting to tell you all the news but finding internet access proved to be impossible.

This morning we woke up and went to the orphanage at 10am. The kids played for awhile and we met another family from Greece who are adopting another 5 year old little girl. They were very nice and the wife was able to communicate in broken English. She is originally from France but she now lives with her husband in Greece. We spent awhile with them and all the kids had a great time playing together. We then returned to our apartment and Ruslan was able to get our laptop hooked up to the internet!!! WHOOOHOO. I was so happy when it worked and I immediately kissed him on the cheek. I think he was a little embarrassed…he’s not an emotional type person. He actually reminds me a little of Tony Soprano. I wish he could speak English (or we spoke Russian) so we could communicate better with him. I think he’s a pretty interesting fellow. Luba cooked us a wonderful meal (chicken, potatoes, salad) and we feasted on the wonderful food. We are heading back to the orphanage as soon as I post this.

A little more information on our little girl: She has beautiful, long brown hair & brown eyes. She has a tan from her time at camp in Italy and she tans like Chris. I guess Lucas and I are destined to be the pale ones in the family. Her birthday is August 22 and she will turn 6 years old. She is slightly taller (maybe ½ an inch) than Lucas. She is very thin…she actually makes Lucas look chunky…and anyone who knows Lucas, knows he is nowhere near chunky!! Her name is Yana and we are going to name her Emma Yana Bush. We will post some pictures when we are a little closer to our court date. This is a public site and we aren’t comfortable posting her picture until all the paperwork is done…sorry!

Well, I’d better post this so Lucas can go back to see his sister…he’s asking “how much longer?” (whine) Thank you for all of your messages. We really love reading them. I’m sorry I can’t answer everyone individually. It really helps knowing you are all out there reading this and joining us in this adventure. Your prayers have helped to guide us to our daughter.

Love to all,
Lisa, Chris & Lucas