The Voices of Ukrainians

One of my friends back in Durango, Bicycle Bill (who happens to rock) made over 120 tie-dye t-shirts for the kids at our orphanage. We are in the process of giving them out, one class at a time (thus far we've given them to the first and second graders). I want to give a big shout out to Bill for making Ukraine a little more colorful! A cool selection to choose from! We made name tags the same day we passed out the shirts to the 1st and 2nd graders. I got her to smile! In the picture before this she was so serious. Yeah, sometimes you gotta whip out the charm! One of the second graders; a true little rascal. One of my favorite pictures ever. I want to adopt both of these kids! Someone's a little shy....but that makes her cuter! How cool is that shirt? It's one of my fave's. Smile or else............. Daniel's gonna tickle you! That tactic works for me, too. What a handsome little guy! Tie dye rocks! So precious! Th...

Early last month, Doug went to see the surgeon who performed Anya’s operation last March. The doctor said we could bring her on October 8th. He would look her over, do some x-rays and tests, and then set a date for her next operation. So, a few days before the 8th, Daniel, Meisha  and I went and picked her up from the orphanage and brought her to Smile House. We went early because we wanted to show her a little bit of Kiev and have some fun before she got stuck in a hospital. We are so glad we did! The first night we went on a walk together to see the lakes around Smile House, and then we played 13 rounds of  dominoes   A few weeks ago, Daniel and I went to a conference on working with at-risk kids and transition homes. We  realized how important it was to teach kids anything and everything. Therefore, after dinner that first night, Daniel taught Anya how to wash dishes. The next morning, he taught her how to make pancakes.  Thanks Anya for breakfast—it was ...