Natalie brought all five of the children from the orphanage in the morning. The three girls, their mothers and Natalie left to have passport photos taken and to shop for clothes at the large open central market. Stan and Toli stayed with me. I took them to buy fruit and cookies to get us through the day without the girls. We have seen how much they can put away, so I was going to need the boys to help me carry it all back. They are always eager to help us out when we’re buying things – and not in selfishness.

After lunch, Paul, Jeffrey, Stan, Toli and I walked to the amusement park we had visited on the day of the court. The girls were to return by 3 or 4 pm, so we let the boys play until it was time to return. It was a beautiful day, the first shirtsleeve weather day since we’ve been in Sumy.

The girls returned after 4 pm and the daughters did a fashion show of their new outfits. Susan said that Dasha had been eager and easy to please. The clerk had confirmed that in the US the pants may be worn low but the top must prevent any belly exposure, as the mothers had asserted. Exposure is the fashion here, so his comments were appreciated.

We returned the children to the school as dusk was approaching and watched the movie “Eight Below” to relax before bed.

It was nice today to be doing something toward to end game.