The last two days have been really good. Lizzy is really bonding with us and gets so excited everytime we come to the orphanage for our visits. She runs to us and hugs us and kisses our cheeks. We have finally found two things that can keep her occupied. 1. Fixing hair 2. a ball. Yesterday, she decided that she was going to fix my hair for me. She was trying to put it in crazy ponytails and pulling my hair pretty good! We got this on video :) So after our morning visit, we went to the toy store and bought her a doll with hair that she can fix. She did for a long time last night. When we told her the English word for brush, she shook her head and said the Russian word instead. However, this morning, she asked for the brush using the English word! She is very smart. We also bought her a ball. She is VERY active. She kicked it, and threw it around all morning. I think she may play soccer :) It is getting harder for her to go back to her group, however, when our visits are over. Last night she kept calling "Mama" all the way down the hall as Paul carried her back. Today, our facilitator told her it was time to go back and she just stopped and looked at him. Her eyes got really sad and she shook her head. The she gave me a big hug and about ten kisses. She was OK after that. Her orphanage is GREAT!! They take really good care of her and are soooo nice to us. Today they brought the blankets downstairs for us to sit on and always bring Lizzy toys to play. They are very kind. I think it is a really good place. Yesterday, in between visits, we did a little sight seeing of Zaporojey. It is a really neat city. We drove to a museum where the Cossacks started. We also saw a fort the Cossacks built to meet and protect the country. They are a work of art! The only forts I have ever seen are plain old wooden boxes. Their forts had intricate roofs with beautiful tops on them. Amazing!! It is unbelievable to comprehend how much history a country has. We are such a new country. Our culture/history doesn't go back that far. Here, they have history and stories from BC!! It is really fascinating. We want to visit an old church at some point before we leave. We really feel at home here. Everyone has really been so nice and visiting Ukraine as more of a citizen than a tourist has been a great experience.

Love,
Candace and Paul