She Will Be Missed

The goodbye's have begun.

Vera will be missed by many here.

Last week we began taking pictures of Vera with her (and our) favorite people at the orphanage. My awesome husband went out yesterday and got the pictures printed and bought frames for them. We started giving them out yesterday afternoon. We gave out more today and I do believe I wasn't the only one with tears in my eyes.

This is Olya. She obviously loves Vera a great deal.

Olya is the (only) one who takes the kids to the playground.

She went with us when Vera had her passport photo taken.

We learned that Olya has taken Vera out before and let her ride the bus.

We haven't seen Olya in several days...I do hope she's there tomorrow to say goodbye.

This is Mama Luda. She's the only person here (besides me) that Vera has called Mama.

Luda works in the baby room and obviously enjoys what she does.

She's one that came outside to calm Vera one day when she was hysterical.

She specifically asked for a copy of this picture.

We haven't seen Ana in a few days either.

I sure hope we get to say goodbye and give her this picture.

She obviously loves Vera lots!

And Alla.

Alla obviously loves Vera too.

She's the one who gently wrapped her arm around Vera that day

when the other caregiver got in Vera's face.

Two of the nurses in the orphanage...

They always seem happy to see us.

Which isn't the case with everyone here.

I'm sad to say I don't know her name, but Vera can tell us.

She is very patient and kind with all the children.

We gave her this picture yesterday and she was very thankful.

This is my favorite nurse.

We gave her this picture today and she said 'spaciba'

countless times and gave us a thumbs up.

She also said, "Klauss." (which means 'cool.')

This is one of the janitor/groundskeepers.

He reminds Jon and I of my dad.

He is always so kind and patient with Vera.

He answers her countless 'Whys' and 'Hows' with a smile no matter how long it takes.

The other day she must have asked him questions for at least 20 minutes.

He would laugh at the funny things she said.

He would show her things she asked about.

Things she's probably wanted to ask and see for years.

She's finally getting answers.

We gave this picture to him today and he put his hand

over his heart and then gave us a thumbs up. He was so appreciative.

She will be missed by many.

So, I will likely be out of commission for a few days. Tomorrow we'll be running around getting all the necessary paperwork and hopefully Vera's passport. Pray we can get her passport tomorrow! After we have the passport, we'll go get Vera and bust her out of the orphanage! Can you believe it? TOMORROW!! We only have to say 'goodbye' to Vera ONE MORE TIME this afternoon. Sasha came to the orphanage today and Vera had more questions. She asked if we have gloves for her yet. We told her we'll get some as soon as we get home and she can pick them out herself. She asked where Kiev is, how long it'll take to get to there and how long we'll be there. She asked if her brothers and sister are waiting for her in Kiev. She asked how long she'll live with us. She told us the menu of foods she would like to eat (potatoes, apples, soup, bananas, and meat). She asked if we will we drive to America or do we have to fly.

Jon and I are just amazed. We are so blessed to be Vera's parents. God hand-picked her for us and we are so thankful. Vera is such a precious, special little girl. Many of you have said how blessed Vera is to get to be part of our family. But the truth is, WE are the blessed ones. I've heard other adoptive parents say that. Now I get it. We are the ones who are blessed. This journey has been pretty amazing. Tomorrow we will FINALLY close this chapter. And the REAL adventure will begin!

I'll update you again as soon as I can. Hopefully we'll have a good internet connection in Kiev! We're packing and working on embassy paperwork today. Tomorrow will be an early, long day. But a day to celebrate!!