Rain, Rain Go Away

Hi everyone,
(Gail here) Didn't do much today. It's been raining . Weather is a bit goofy from what we are used to in MN. Yesterday was beautiful, the sun was starting to melt the snow off the sidewalks so you could get around a little bit better. Today everyone had to use their umbrella's to fight the rain and wind. If anyone had told me to bring an umbrella for the middle of Feb. I would of said "Ya right!"

Briley is warming up to us more and more everyday.Today we got our share of hugs with a lot of smiles. We brought here some sliced turkey for her afternoon snack. Something about candy and cookies two times a day just wasn't setting well with me -hmmm can't imagine why? Anyway you would've thought she had never seen meat. She just kept piling it in ,storing it like a little pocket gopher. A cute one at that but nevertheless her cheeks were as round as they could be.

Each time we come to visit Briley the caregivers change her into her pink dress. We are going to have fifteen days of "pink dress" pictures to look back on.Today she had some foamy light slippers on and she thought she was pretty cool.

Meanwhile Craig`s been scaring the neighbors with his body guard stature. He had two woman stop and wait for another gentleman to catch up to them before they would walk past him. He said he wanted to growl at them so bad. I told him he should of growled when the old Russian woman chewed him out for walking on her freshly mopped floor at the grocery store. Boy - If looks could kill after he tried saying "Sorry." It didn't phase him though,I think he has maybe seen the stink eye before. :)

Well tomorrow's another day of visitation , two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon with a few hours in between to stop at the grocery store. Our highlight of the day is seeing Briley then deciding how much food we can carry back home in our little plastic sack. Thats another story: In Ukraine you have to buy plastic bags as you check out your groceries. Most Ukrainians carry heavy plastic bags (like some bag they got from purchasing a garment from the clothing store) that have a sturdier handle. Each day they stop at the store and take a few items home with them, remember most Ukrainians walk everywhere. If you have your own carrying bag it gets placed in a locker (with a key) at the enterance of the store. After purchasing your items you walk through the clearance gate and back to your locker to get your bag. Also when you choose your fruits ,veggies, or bulk cookies a clerk in that department will weigh them ahead of time putting a price on them before you go through your check out. Each check out clerk gets to sit down when scanning your food. Security Gaurds stand at the entrance and also around the check out counters at all times.


Here is the fancy Ukrainian clothes dryer we have in the apartment. So far this is the only type of dryer we have seen.
Here`s the same clothes dryer on the "High" setting. Used when your in a hurry.Pretty typical "look" of the Ukranian women, leather, fur and heels.This is the view of the orphanage we get when we come up the sidewalk.Another sidewalk on the orphanage grounds.Briley and Mom having a little alone time.Dad and Briley learning how to drink out of a juice box. He already sort of knew how but she didn`t.