So, New Years' Eve Day brought decent temps and no snow so we headed out to lunch at Pizza Hut. Ira enjoyed the pizza buffet and then we headed up to Appalachian Ski Mtn. for some ice skating! We got our skates and off we went! I hadn't skated in a few years and it turned out Ira never had ice skated before. But, she caught on quickly and very soon we were gliding around the outdoor rink having a ball!!!! It turned out that there was a Russian family there that day - 2 grandmothers, 2 married couples - of which the men were brothers, and about 4 kids! They picked up on Ira's language and inquired about her. I explained the hosting program and that we were adopting and they were thrilled and had a good time talking to her. I don't know alot of what they said, but she laughed at them alot and seemed to enjoy their conversation!!! Finally one of the grandmothers pulled me over and kissed me on both cheeks and thanked me for adopting her - saying that I had no idea what I was really doing for her and wished me "godspeed". I felt honored to have their blessing - even though strangers - because I know that they certainly know more abouty her country and future than I do. She also went on to tell me that they had been wathcing us before they knew she was from Ukraine and just assumed that we were mother and daughter having more fun than anyone there thru our hugs and laughter while skating, and that our "love" for each other outshown everyone else that was out there skating! What a magical day - Ira was in "awe" of it all from the skating to watching the snow skiers - constantly saying "Wow momma"!!!! Tom was a great sport too - passing up the skating but watching and cheering us on constantly!!!!
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