Court Day!

It's over!  It's done!  It's official!  The court hearing was very quick; about ten minutes.  After all the drama and heartache, today's appointment, the one that meant everything, was quick and painless.  I can't believe that was IT.

Sitting beside the judge were two jurors and a stenographer.  In front of them were Galina, Enakievo's inspector who was advocating for the adoption, and a prosecutor who barely even lifted his head.  Didn't say a word.  Facing the judge were Curt and me, the boys, Victor, Larissa from the orphanage, and a couple of other people I didn't know.  There was a lot of formalese in the beginning.  Victor translated for us and we had to answer "Yes" a few times to "do you agree" and "do you understand" questions.  Galina talked for a little while, then the judge, the very kind, lovely judge, called Isaac and Eli to the bench.  She asked them lots of questions.  Questions about us, Cassie and Clay, their new names, and of course the obvious "do you want to be adopted?"  They answered them so confidently!  Brave boys.  Of course it helped that the judge was so gentle and kind.  No questions for us.  No drama about the brother.  That was it.  The judge said she would deliberate with the jurors for 30 minutes and come back with a verdict.  About three minutes later Victor walked out and said Congratulations.  That was it!  The judge felt the boys wanted to be adopted, our paperwork from the US was in order, the SDA recommended the adoption, and we had Galina on our side.  That was all she needed!

Thank you all so much for your prayers.  I could feel them in the court room.  I should have been tied up in knots, but strangely, I was smiling through the whole thing.  I felt such peace and confidence.

So now what?  Curt just left for the airport and Victor is heading back to Kiev.  Wednesday we'll regroup with Victor to pick up some papers in Enakievo, and that starts several days of running around.  "Several days of running around" stretched me to my limit a few weeks ago, but this time it's just hoop-jumping.  No arm-twisting necessary.  Curt's sister Kayla will probably fly out around Dec 10.  She'll help me with the boys through the home stretch and fly back to the States with us.  Our flight home will likely be Dec. 21.

SO, between now and Wednesday we're going to have some fun.  Anya will be here soon so we can plan our trip to Lviv.  I am SO looking forward to it.