Utahns host Ukrainian kids

For weeks, Annie Soderberg has been telling her classmates about her new sisters. She's been taking pictures of the two girls to school and talking about when they would finally make their way to Utah.

Late Friday, the 6- and 8-year-old girls — Olena and Galyna — and 29 other Ukrainian children arrived in Salt Lake City, meeting the families that will host them for the next two weeks in hopes of their eventual adoption.

"Hopefully, the magic will happen and they'll fall in love with the children," said Nanette Garrett, who, along with her husband, runs the Save a Child Foundation, which brought the children to Utah.

The Murray family already has adopted two girls from Ukraine, 17-year-old Elizabeth and 12-year-old Emily, and will be hosting an 11-year-old boy from the group. If adopted, the boy would become the Garretts' 10th child.

The 31 children and their four adult chaperones touched down at the Salt Lake City International Airport shortly before midnight Friday. The group reached the baggage claim area and found a very large gathering of anxious Utahns holding signs and balloons and waving their country's blue-and-yellow flag.

The children, weary after nearly a full day of traveling, eyed the scene cautiously as they arrived at the baggage claim area. Many come from the same boarding school in Sumy, Ukraine, or another smaller, family-run orphanage, and are well-acquainted with each other. They stood closely together, clinging to one another as excited members of host families called their names.

Slowly, the group unfurled and the children began to pair up with their host families. Within minutes, 7-year-old Annie Soderberg was posing for pictures with Olena and Galyna, with her tearful mom, Leslie, behind the camera.

"All these people joining together to do something good just touches you in a place you can't articulate," Leslie Soderberg said.

The family has intentions of adopting the two girls, who came to the orphanage after their mother's recent death.

"We're planning on it. I'm a pediatric nurse and very much a child advocate, and this is something we've been talking about for a long time," Leslie Soderberg said.

The host families have been asked not to talk about adoption with the children, aged 6 to 15, to avoid getting their hopes up. The program is billed more as a "cultural exchange" and the children will be participating in various activities during their time here.

Daily activities include trips to Snowbird, the Children's Museum, Clark Planetarium, Lagoon and Utah's Hogle Zoo. The group also will attend the Nov. 5 University of Utah football game.