Hooray for the Court Date!

We finally have a court date!! Yeah!
Thursday, November 19th


After all the waiting (but could have been longer, mind you) we finally have a date to tether the future to! We are all so happy. If the date would have been very far out (over 10 days), we were intending on flying home then return the day before court. But as God planned it, our court appointment is exactly 10 days, so we will stay. We miss our family dearly, but it will be so sweet to see them again soon enough.


Our court appointment will be over in one day. A decision is decided that day and so it won't string things along (in almost all cases). The day following the decision, we begin our next 10 day waiting period to allow anyone to object the adoption before it becomes final. (to me this is a "duh!" but it's their way.....) Then the day after that we begin to run around with our heads cut off! This should be around Dec. 1st.


Sergiy will begin translations of all the court documents including a copy into English. We will obtain the Visa and change the birth certificate all here locally. Then we will head back to the capitol Kiev (or Kyiv as they spell it) to have medical testing done, register at the Ukrainian Embassy and complete the stuff at the US Embassy. THEN we get to head home! During this time we will all be trying our hardest to get as much done as possible in as short of time. Even still, it's hard to say when all that can get done and we get home. So much of depends on human factor. It could take 2 days or it could take 12 - it just depends.


Vala appears to be pretty relaxed about the whole thing. She is determined to go with us "no matter what" as she put it. John and I are studying about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church so we will better understand the religion she celebrates. John and I have been fortunate to be taking a class in the mornings this week and have learned so much.


Vala has gotten to the opportunity to see and talk to her new siblings a couple of times thanks to the free internet program Skype. They were all happy to see her and she, them. It's pretty cool - how many adoptive children to get do that before they go home??? Even though she doesn't say much, she understands even more. We are sure she will do just fine with the transition once she reaches America. It will be a struggle at first, but she is one tough gal.


There are many children here at the orphanage that we have come in contact with during our time here. They are precious, funny, normal kids that are winning places in our hearts very quickly. I often wonder if we can squeeze more into our house! What do you think honey? -convert the music room in to more bedrooms??? ;o)


I would encourage you, if God has spoken to your heart about taking in a child to love and care for, to please do. Feel free to contact us about anything and bombard us with questions if you wish. I'm not saying we have all the answers, but I can match you up with someone who might. The SDA is very helpful and longing to find homes for these children. They care about these children very much. So if your heart's aching, jump in and do it! God will bless you in more ways than you can imagine!


Now for daily stuff......the weather here is overcast like on so many days. The pollution is high and often smog hangs in the air all the time. It feels gray constantly - hmm, can one "feel" a color? I wish we had the opportunity to see their cities during the spring and summer when the sun had a chance to shine and flowers were in full bloom!


The Ukrainian people love flowers! They sell cut flowers in lots and lots of places, including Babushka's right on the street corner or in one of the many stairwells leading under the roads for crossing. They have roses and bulbed plants in flowerbeds that they attend to like expectant Mama's.


The trees still had their leaves on when we arrived. We have been able to watch them change color for the autumn and fall off with the rain and snow we've had. Now it is colder, but not much more than would be at home. I expect we'll see some more snow before we leave. We're praying the jackets we brought will keep us warm until we leave! ;o)


Today after our morning class, we went to Cherry Pizza for lunch and came home to rest. We're using today as a "down time" since we didn't sleep well last night - we are very protective of our health. We have been doing really pretty well for weeks now and last night came as a surprise. Perhaps it's just apart of getting old and having the enjoyment of sleeping on Ukrainian beds! lol!


I'm going to go brew up a cup of tea while John sleeps.
Much love to you all! God bless,
Jenn