We talked with the girls this morning.  As usual they asked when we are coming.  We told them that we should be there by the end of March.  Next week we should receive our appointment date and then we'll call them and tell them exactly when we'll be there.  It is amazing that we are this close.  We told them that they were signed up for school and that they would just go for the last month this year only to help them learn English.  They were excited about that.  They all wanted to know what grades they would be in.  Lyuba practiced her English on us.  She's trying so hard.  Over the summer Lyuba and Snezhana didn't care to learn English.  They knew they would be going back to Ukraine where they didn't use English at all.  Now that they know they are coming here, they have incentive to learn.  It's going to be fun to watch them learn it and I can tell that they'll pick it up fast.

Diana had been in the "hospital" last week when we called.  We've come to learn that what they call the hospital at the orphanage is more of a quarantine area so they don't get the other children sick.  When we called today Lyuba told us that Diana was still in the hospital.  But after speaking with Lyuba for a while, Diana suddenly showed up!  It was nice to hear her. 

Snezhana is doing great.  She's the hardest to understand because she holds the phone close to her mouth and she speaks mostly Ukrainian.  She laughed a bit which was fun to hear.  We were able to learn that her favorite food is a mush food like our cream of wheat.  If only I'd known that during hosting!

We probably talked to the girls too long.  At the end of our conversation suddenly Lyuba said she had to go and kept saying "bye-bye."  Then all three girls said "bye-bye" into the phone.  It was so cute.  Then they were gone.

We are so close to going.  Thankfully, due to all you who have helped, we have enough funds to get to Ukraine, pay our fees and live for a few weeks.  We will continue fundraising up until we go and while in Ukraine.  And we'll blog as much as possible about our experience there.  When we get to the girls' orphanage region, we'll be in a very rural area.  I don't know how good our internet access will be.  Jay is hoping to be able to work over the internet so it will be a priority to have internet at our apartment.  We know that a lot of people are interested in what happens with the girls so we will do our best to keep you updated!

If you can donate to getting the girls home, please do.  These girls must have a better chance in life.  I think that most people who have met them feel that too.  We appreciate everyone's help!