Nightlight Foundation

One little boy gets hives when he eats apples, and still he eats apples all day. One little boy says "no hamburger" and then a minute later is chowing down on an In-N-Out burger and smiling at the same time. The simplest things bring the biggest smiles. A hug. A tuck into bed at night. A pat on the head. And "fut-bol." Thirteen Russian orphans have come to Southern California to play soccer. "Fut-bol," they say in their little-boy voices. They call themselves the Russian Rockets.

One little boy gets hives when he eats apples, and still he eats apples all day. One little boy says "no hamburger" and then a minute later is chowing down on an In-N-Out burger and smiling at the same time. The simplest things bring the biggest smiles. A hug. A tuck into bed at night. A pat on the head. And "fut-bol." Thirteen Russian orphans have come to Southern California to play soccer. "Fut-bol," they say in their little-boy voices. They call themselves the Russian Rockets.

A troupe of singing and dancing Russian orphans will perform Sunday at the Mission San Juan Capistrano to raise awareness and money for other orphans in their homeland. The 16 children, ages 8 to 17, will perform at 3 p.m., dancing in costume to traditional Russian music. It's the third year in a row the group has performed at the mission, to raise funds for medical supplies for 5,000 orphans in St. Petersburg. The group also is promoting adoption of the children by American families.

Singing and dancing to Russian folk songs, a troupe of children from St. Petersburg entertained visitors to Mission San Juan Capistrano this week as part of a mission of their own. The Performers of St. Petersburg Detsky Doms, a group of 16 orphaned boys and girls, are on a goodwill exhibition tour across Southern California. Sponsored by the Nightlight Foundation, the troupe's third annual visit is devoted to raising awareness to the plight of the 5,000 orphans in St.

Those in the audience didn't mind at all that they couldn't understand the words to the songs. What mattered was that the performers, dressed to the nines and singing their hearts out, were talented and incredibly cute. The singers and dancers, sixteen Russian orphans from St. Petersburg, kicked off a two-week tour of Southern California at Adventure City in Stanton on Tuesday. They will perform at churches, universities and at the epitome of American culture: Disneyland.

Today * Take 'em out to the ballgame and slip 'em some art enrichment, too, at "All-Stars: American Sporting Prints From the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams" at the Fullerton Museum Center, 301 N. Pomona Ave. The exhibit depicts 30 sports in more than 60 prints of various methods and vintages. Admission is a buck on Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., $2-$3 all other days. Kids younger than 12 free. Closed Monday and Tuesday. (714) 738-6545.

Attorney Bonnie Hiler has been in Judge Tully H. Seymour's courtroom many times before to represent parents in adoption hearings. But on Wednesday, Hiler and her husband, Rodney, walked into the courtroom for a special appearance of their own, a hearing to make final the adoption of an 8-year-old from St. Petersburg, Russia. Two officials from Russia, including the director of the orphanage where the shy boy known as Yura Sisov once lived, were on hand for the brief hearing.