For the last several days our girl has been asking us to take her and her friends to our hotel. The director and assistant director have not been at the orphanage so we could not get approval. On Sunday we were told by the office that maybe Monday we could take her and her 3 friends with a caretaker to our hotel. Because of the quarantine of the children in our girl's dorm, they do not have school. We arrived around 10:00 a.m. and asked the assistant director about taking our girl and she said no because of illness. She did not want any children to be out and she also would not let us go to our girl's room. We waited for thirty minutes for the office to call our girl to come to us and then we got to spend our time with her in the main building. We showed her a video on our iPad of The Greeley Grizwalds; the spectacularly decorated house with Christmas lights synchronized to music just blocks away from our house. She will not to get to see it in person this year so we watched a video of one of the songs. She was amazed with all the Christmas lights! We also looked at family pictures on Dropbox which was fun but made us really miss our children. Both Sunday and Monday we walked home before it got dark since we went earlier in the morning. Monday we walked to the orphanage and back to our hotel and then walked again to the orphanage for the St. Nicoli show. On each walk, we got wet from rain and sloppy roads. The weather warmed up over the weekend to melt a lot of snow and it has made roads a big mess. Monday morning we woke up to a little more snow that then quickly melted in the light rain. On Monday, busses of children from other orphanages were brought to the orphanage here so it was quite the festive place. After some brief speeches by administration and students, St. Nicoli appeared through a gated entrance on a four-wheeler wearing a blue robe with white and silver stars and snowflakes, a white beard, and carrying a blue staff. He addressed the crowd of parents, caretakers, and children for a few minutes and then we watched an amazing fire show. Three women twirled rods and rope with fire on the ends and it was beautiful. Even though the children are on quarantine they were allowed to go to the outside show but not the inside show or crafts. Inside there was native Ukrainian dancing, cookie decorating, and crafts. Sadly, the children from our girl's group did not get to participate. Disappointment is something these children seem used to so there was no complaining that we heard. We went and recorded the Ukrainian singing on our camcorder so hopefully we can show the children the wonderful performance. When we arrived to the orphanage on Monday we heard knocking on a window and there were two sweet girls blowing us kisses and waving from their room in the sick house. They were out of bed and so happy to see us. It made my heart happy to see them and know they are feeling better. We walked to the other side of the building to see if we could see any other children but we did not. We were pleased to see two children, one of them being my "hugger", back from the medical building tonight. On Sunday, Jason and I walked to two different markets to buy liquid hand soap, toilet paper, and as many cups as we could find. As we mentioned in an earlier update, the children in each room drink from one cup instead of having their own cups. We thought each child should have his/her own cup to cut down on spreading germs. We also thought that we could show the children how to wash hands before and after eating and after using the bathroom using the soap we bought. We hurried around to find enough cups, came back to our hotel room and washed all of them (almost 30 which is not quite enough but as close as we could get) and then carried everything as we walked to the orphanage on the slushy street. We translated and recorded phrases that could speak so the children and caretakers would understand about hand washing and about the cups. We were so excited to give something useful to help the children stay healthy. Unfortunately all of our items were not deemed useful as we had hoped they would be. The caretaker said thank you but told us they already had cups, which they use for holding each child's toothbrush, and toothpaste. The children use communal cups for drinking water during the day. We tried to explain the difference and finally our girl understood but the caretaker just put the cups in her office. She told us that they cannot have soap out because the children will eat it or brush their teeth with it. I tried to explain how the older children like our girl could help dispense it and teach the younger ones. My suggestions were not well received and I could tell that she felt it would be too much work. I understand it is hard to make changes and I also understand it is hard to supervise and keep track of hand washing but it is totally disgusting to me that these children never wash their hands. The caretaker let our girl keep a bottle of hand soap and cups for her and her friends in their room. I explained to our girl when to use the soap and I also asked her to give a squirt to others in the bathroom when others are in there with her. We also bought toilet paper because there is never any in the bathroom stalls. The caretaker said that each child has there own t.p. and that they are supposed to take it with them to the bathroom. However, none of our girls have had any toiletry items on their shelves. I insisted that our girl keep a roll of the t.p. that we bought so at least she now has some and can share with her friends. It makes me sad and a little mad for these children, especially the girls, who never get to use toilet paper. I will definitely need to teach our girl about personal hygiene in ways I did not think about before now. We pray that our gifts of trying to help the children stay healthy will somehow be used and that God will help the caretakers understand our concern for the children. Because of the lack of some basic health precautions, 34 children are missing out on the holiday festivities and 6 of them are still sick in the hospital. One little boy who is sick will not get to be hosted with his sister this Christmas because of him not being well enough to travel. Disappointment after disappointment:( We were told that the children will be quarantined for at least 3 weeks. They have to eat meals after everyone else has finished, they do not get to go anywhere outside of their dorm except to eat separate from all other children, and they do not get to have visitors come to their dorm. We have been told we will be able to go to the dorm again but we will not believe it until it actually happens. Please pray that we able to go to the dorm. The children need some extra love and attention in their even more isolated world now and we need some quality time with our girl before we leave later this week. Please continue to pray for the speedy recoveries of the sick children and for protection from illness for all the others who are currently healthy. On Sunday night we met a very nice woman and her mother at the hotel. They live in Ukraine and the woman is trying to adopt an 8 year old girl from our girl's dorm. She has encountered many issues in her 2 year process so please pray for God's timing for court. This girl is leaving to be hosted in America on December 15 and will not arrive back to Ukraine until mid January. This mom is getting anxious for court and just found out on Monday that her daughter is going to America which is actually slowing down the adoption process. This mother has been so thrilled to meet us and she called us a "Christmas miracle". She has been happy to practice her English in talking with us. We have walked to the orphanage together one time and will do it again. Pray for peace for the mom and grandma. We thank the Lord for allowing us to meet these nice women and we thank Him for showing us that He will set the lonely in families. Please also pray for God to provide the other children with forever families.