Court Day Part 2

Now that the dust has settled, I remember all the things I meant to include in the first blog post but forgot.

Victor seemed as happy and relieved as the rest of us following the court appearance.  Curt asked him how many times he's seen a judge say 'no' at an adoption hearing.  He tentatively answered "Never..."  He was obviously worried about today, though.  Praise God everything went so smoothly because it could have gone much differently.  Victor said that our experience ranks right up there with Karol Saner's as one of the hardest adoptions he's dealt with.  At the moment it's a badge I'd rather not wear but surely it will all make sense someday.  The people who have endured the toughest trials have the most powerful testimonies, right?  "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  James 1: 2-4

After court, we drove up to the orphanage to tend to a few paperwork matters.  No one told the boys where we were going.  They hadn't been back since we checked them out on October 31.  When we pulled up, one of them said "Oh no, _____ Uglegorsk."  (doing my best to translate) "No it's not."  "Yes, look, we're at Uglegorsk."  I didn't even think about preparing them.  They seemed to be okay though.  I'm sure it looks different to them than it did five weeks ago.

On the hour-long drive from Uglegorsk back to Donetsk, the four Powells crammed into the back seat with Sasha driving and Victor sleeping in the passenger seat.  Isaac, as usual, sat on the edge of the bench seat, leaning forward so he see everything and be heard by everyone.  He talked CONTINUOUSLY the entire hour.  Naturally he was speaking Russian, so, with Victor soundly asleep, Sasha was the only one who could understand him.  I have no idea what Isaac was talking about (although I did hear "Ameriki" a lot so he was probably telling his version of what America must be like) but Sasha chuckled the whole way home.

Isaac frequently talks Anya's ear off as well.  Those of you who knew Cassie about 4-6 years ago, do you remember how I used to be so tired all the time because Cassie would NOT stop talking?  A constant barrage of questions and postulations flowed from her mouth.  It's like deja vu, only with a small Ukrainian blue-eyed boy.  Active minds!

We had "fun" with Anya tonight at a sushi restaurant.  The boys' first time.  EVERYTHING was new. Chopsticks!  Wasabi!  Those little bowls for soy sauce!  So much to experience.  But they hated it, lol.  I think they liked the experience, but couldn't handle the food.  Too different.  Understandable.

We bought our train tickets for Lviv.  Leaving tomorrow!