A relative that previously gave up custody of the children to the state, which made them orphans, has now come forward against our adopting K and B. This relative has no legal rights to the children and has left the children in the orphanage for 5 years. This relative is creating a difficult situation for K and B, but as long as K and B continue to agree to the adoption it will go forward.
We knew the relative was going to visit the kids sometime today so we showed up early to make sure we were able to see the kids today too. We visited K and B this morning for a couple of hours, James and B played football (soccer), and K and I made more jewelry with beads (I got a new necklace from K!) before the relative arrived. It was really hard to watch K and B leave with this relative knowing that the relative didn't want us to adopt K and B. We found out that they were only going to be gone a couple of hours so we decided to stay in the area so we could continue our visit afterwards. Let's just say it was a tense couple of hours.
When K and B returned, the relative suggested that we all go down to the Black Sea and swim. James and I (and the facilitator, Natasha) did not bring our suits, but we decided to go anyways. It was a very strange experience hanging out all together (especially for me because, as I've mentioned many times, I do not speak Russian!) Every time they spoke I wondered what they were saying. Thankfully James filled me in later. Even though we were in an awkward position we tried to make the best of it. James, being the awesome guy he is, emptied his pockets and swam in his clothes. I decided to go wading because I was in a dress. Our facilitator even went swimming in her clothes too!
The Black Sea!
B holding a crab he caught in the water.
"I love K and B!"
Both K and B are really good swimmers! B especially loves the water. James spent a lot of time under water with B standing on his shoulders and doing back flips off of them when James stood up. James and B also caught a lot of sea creatures and collected them in a plastic bottle full of sea water before releasing them when it was time to go. B loves the camera and made sure I filmed him doing cool tricks in the water. He would make sure I got it with a thumbs up. The relative spent a lot of time walking the beach with K so we didn't get as much time with her as we would have liked.
After a couple of hours in the sun, we headed back to the camp. The relative left and we were able to have a little bit of time with the kids before we had to go to. The kids still agree to the adoption, but it is a tense situation for them. Thoughts and prayers from friends and family are always appreciated.
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