Counting down the days.....

When I first started asking Dima if he was getting excited about Artyr (Dima's best friend that has been adopted from his orphanage in Ukraine) coming home soon, he played it off like he wasn't that excited. I can only imagine that he has been let down so many times in his life, that deep down inside him he doesn't want to show his emotions. Artyr is coming to his forever home on March 11th and will be living within 45 minutes of Dima.  Dusty and I are so excited that Artyr will be so close as well.  Dusty and I will never forget when we took the bus to pick up the children at the Philly airport to bring them back for camp in August.  After all the children walked from customs into where we met them, Artyr came up to Dusty and introduced himself.  Little did we know then that this boy was going to make such a huge impact on a lot of peoples lives.  Artyr is 15 years old and in another year would have "graduated" from the orphanage.  He was fortunate that Lori(whom organized the hosting camp) was able to take pictures and get to know the children when she was in Ukraine adopting Ana.  This was a life changing event for Artyr because normally the center will pick the most "adoptable" children to send on hosting trips.  Usually younger children are sent since they are most wanted for adoption.  From what we understand, this was the oldest group of children that came to a hosting camp in America and almost all are being adopted!!

When Artyr came to camp, he won everyones hearts over and actually had a choice of what family he wanted to be hosted and adopted by.  The Rose family had intentions to host another child but after seeing Artyr with their girls, they new Artyr would be a good fit for their family.  It is amazing to watch him with his little sisters.  He is such a caring boy. 

Anytime that Dusty and I even mention a date in March, Dima chimes in and says March 12th!!! He knows that is the date he is going to see his best friend.  The other day I saw him shut his bedroom door and heard a scratching noise.  I asked what he was doing and he said "secret".  I left it go and Dusty noticed this on his calendar. 

The date when Dima will see Artyr.

This weekend we will also be seeing two sisters that arrived last week from the Dima's orphanage.  These two girls will be living in Tyrone and are around Dima's age.  We are very excited to see them again.  Anslee and Vika are their names.  My last birthday was very special as I was able to be in Ukraine with Dima and since Anslee's birthday is the day after mine, we got to celebrate together.  It will be a birthday I will never forget! Anslee was so overwhelmed from having a big celebration that she hid behind a curtain crying.  After her friends coaxed her out, we had cake and ice cream.  She said it was the best birthday ever. 

I want to end this blog with thanking those from the Altoona Surgery Center that were gracious to donate money towards the orphanage.  We have sent the money over with Artyr's father so he can make sure the money will go to the orphanage.  I will let you know what is purchased and hopefully get pictures as well. 

One more thing, the Gurley family, who is adopting two children from the hosting camp, are going to be leaving next week for Ukraine! We will pray for safe travels and for a quick adoption!  I will never forget Vika speaking at camp how she was already at a hosting camp in America before and that all she wanted was to live in America.  It broke my heart knowing her age and that this trip was the last chance of being adopted since she was older.  I am so amazed at how God had this all planned and orchestrated the right people at this hosting camp!

Thanks for reading,

Tina