Airport Store

Today we were able to go and get some clothes for Natasha for when she comes home with us. We needed to find another pair of jeans for her as she only has the one pair which are too long for her anyway. There is a store near the Internot that we went to that Michelle calls "The Airport Store" The kids from the Internot sometimes go there when they have allowance saved up and are able to get things for themselves. It is really like a department store which has more groceries than other products. It had a cafe in it as well and we had pizza again. This time it had the sauce on it. Patient Viktor helped us find the clothes and showed us where Natasha could try them on. I was thankful there was a place for her to do this this time unlike at the other market we had previously went to. It was hard to find what size she needed since the numbers for sizes are so different here but we managed to figure out that she is a size 36. Natasha was thrilled with her new purchases and just kept hugging and kissing Ted and I. She also shyly asked if she could pick up some more sugar and candies for her friends. She is always thinking of others before herself. We are also finding out that she may not be as picky of an eater as we thought. She does like ice cream and has eaten every meal we have had together without any dislikes. She is a bit like her new brother Ty, however, in that she isn't a big fruit eater which surprised us. She doesn't like apples, grapes, oranges or pears. So far all we know she likes is bananas and pineapple. She loves Orange juice however.
It was another short day for us and we went back to the Internot for a short while and sat in on a small meeting that Tanya held with the children. They talked about their uniforms and other various things. Some of the teachers sat in on this meeting as well and it was neat to here their discussions even though we didn't understand anything unless someone filled us in on it. At one point Natasha tapped me and said,"Mama, Nastia and me no smoke." I guess there was a discussion about this. I said "kha-RO-shi" which means "good" in Russian. During the meeting we also noticed that the beads from the craft we did yesterday with them had been made into bracelets and other trinkets. Michelle says they love the beads and like to makes things from them. I'm glad they were able to reuse them for things that they enjoy. We were able to get some more pictures of Natasha's teachers who were sitting in on the meeting and a few more of some children. Two girls from Natasha's class, Inna and Alla, are just so sweet. They are always saying hello to Ariana and asking how she is and including her with them when they are playing games. I always catch them looking at us and smiling at us. When we left for the Internot this evening Alla came racing down the hall after us and said to us "All the best!" Wishing us a good night. Lena, Inna says "Hi" she is so sweet she even wanted to know what Natasha's babushka's name was so we told her Carolyn.
Tomorrow we will have Natasha for most of the day : ) and she will be able to stay overnight with us then we will go to church with Tanya on Sunday. Michelle has graciously accepted to come along and spend the day with us even when she is so busy with moving into her new apartment. What would we do without her!? I also forgot to mention a neat fact about where Michelle has moved. The street name that her apartment is located on is"Joy Street"!
We will be able to have Natasha with us more after court on Tuesday(Amy VP). Then Viktor said she will be staying more with us and less at the Internot which will be wonderful. We are still praying that the judge will reduce the 10 day wait so we will be home sooner but we will see what the Lord has for us.
We didn't take too many pictures today since we just went to the store and were only at the Internot for 45 minutes but we hope to get more of the city when we are out and about on Saturday and Sunday. The new photos are of two more of Natasha's teachers and some more friends. With Inna(in pink next to Natasha) and Alla(tall one on the far left in the gray sweater) in one of the photos.
Thanks for all your continued prayers for us. We feel them everyday.
All the best!
Ted Amy Natasha and Ariana