Jan. 17

Howdy friends and neighbors. The elbert family here (in my best Al Pernell voice). (Actually, it is only Bruce) Unfortunately, Lori woke up sick today. She was vomiting and having diarrhea. Luckily, it did not seem too severe and looks like she merely has a stomach virus. However, because of this she was not able to go to our morning session with Gideon. Gideon did well. We walked around and explored and interacted with his friend's who were also walking. Then we played on the porch, while N read one of her new books. He did come to me a couple of times and ask, "Mama?", like where is Mama? I told him, "Mama's sick," and he would say, "Oh," in a very sad voice. I'm sure she will be happy to hear that. Hopefully, by resting, Lori will feel better this afternoon and be able to go with us.

N is doing well. Sveta says that she is doing well with her English lessons, but that she will check with Sveta about her answer before she will write it down. It seems she is afraid to make a mistake, and we have noticed this in other aspects too. Lori and I feel that she may have the idea that how others view her, especially us and Sveta and Viktor, is based upon her performance. Hopefully, through experience and talks we will be able to her that we want her to do her best but that our love is unconditional. She is a very good girl, but unfortunately she still has many life lessons to learn (as do we all).

It is fun observing both N and Gideon and seeing how they are similar. They are both social butterflies and like to talk to everyone. Gideon loves to go outside and talk to everyone at the orphanage. He is such a charmer when he wants to be (which is most of the time). We just need to teach him to use his powers for good. N also loves to talk. She will talk Sveta and Viktors ear off when she is with them, and during our visits with Gideon, she will often talk with several of the caregivers. She does not talk with us as much because of the language barrier, but she has tried to say more things to us in English recently. Unfortunately, she also does not like to make mistakes and this hinders her from trying to say things in English.

Wow! The train wreck in Kentucky must have been really bad. They even picked the story up here on the Ukrainian News last night on TV. They also had a story about the ice storm in Florida.

Could everyone please pray for our friend, Mandy? She was in a car wreck a couple of days ago and broke her hip and pelvis. They are performing surgery today to fix it. Your prayers would be much appreciated.

Well, only 2 days left until the court decision is final and we can start the last bit of paperwork to come home. We can't wait to see everyone.

Oh, and one final thing. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STUART. We love you and miss you. We wish we could be with you to celebrate. We hope you have a great day.

Well, got to go. We love you all.

Peace,

BLN&G