We have the kids!

On Tuesday we drove to "Leena" to pick up the childrens birth certificates. It was very exciting to finally have everything happening. After this we went to the orphanage and meet the director. She wished us well and good luck and many blessings on all of us. We left a donation for the children left behind, signed paperwork that we agree to take the children, that we received the children, and a promise to keep the children in contact with their older brother. We took in clothes for the children to change into, said good bye to groupa leaders, and were on our way out to Simferopol. The children said good bye to their brother at the car. A few friends came to say good bye. It was one of the hardest parts of the adoption. We all loaded into a oversized Mercedes Benz minivan and off we went. The children did very well. It was a little sad for awhile but everyone was excited to see the sites and things soon cheered up. Sasha was very excited to see what was going on, Pavel was too but he soon fell to sleep. Poor Maxim was car sick and he was miserable. He never threw up but he was not feeling well, very green and very sweaty. He fell asleep eventually and seemed to be comfortable.
When we arrived in Simferopol we went to immigration and things did not go well. They said that all of our paperwork was not complete and we needed to fix it before we are able to file. We had to find a notery and do more paperwork. Immigration only sees visitors on Tuesdays and they closed in a hour before they closed. If we cannot get this we will have to wait until tuesday to file. This is not good news. George said maybe we can file on thursday if we can get support from friends, so far that is not working out. Geoge is having a very hard time with the fact that this is happening. He is working very hard to get things fixed.
Victor (our host) invited us to his home for a celebration drink and dinner. His wife is a great cook and their vodka is very strong. We are renting our apartment from Victor and he was also our driver. The apartment is very nice and has great water pressure and a washing machine. It has been great having a nice home to get to know our children in.
They are doing very good. We let them stay up late because it was a very busy day for them. We enjoyed watching them unpack their suitcases and folding up everything we got them. They acted like it was christmas. We are a little worried about our gracery bill... they never stop eating! They went to bed without any problems. They wanted to help make their beds, they are very independant. Maxim and Sasha were up at 6:30 am and ready to go. They have a lot of energy. Pavel was trying to sleep in but it was hard due to the noise. All children made beds without being asked, what a change from home.
Ray found the Pimsleur Russian Language programs on my phone and is doing great (and seems to be having fun) with them. He really is trying hard and doing very good. He is a huge help with the children too. He is a very good boy, we are very lucky.
Around our is very busy because there is a college nearby. It is not much fun or very easy to walk around or shop. We will be happy to be on our way to Kiev.
We cannot find our camera cord and hope to find one tomorrow so we can post some pictures. We are all doing great and cannot wait to get home.