(Laura)
Sorry for the long absence from the blog. Lots to do before our court date today. Visits have been going very well and all the kids are doing great. Yuri continues to get more excited as the days go by and he will really miss Rob on the next visits. He has been able to go swimming at the river with the big kids because we were there with him. In fact, the last time we went we saw some goats there as well. Must be a happenin' place to be. There are local people there as well which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes not. Yuri got to get in his first raft when one of the local people came to put it in and let him get in it first. That was great fun and he came running up the hill to where I was and spouted off a whole bunch of things that I have yet to understand. I'm thinking it went something like this," What a cool raft. Did you see that I got to get in it and everything? Papa talked to the man who owns it and got me a ride. That was great. Come see!"
But maybe he actually said,"What a cool mom you are going to be and I just love running up to talk to you even though I know you don't understand anything I say. " Ok, so let me fantasize a little along the way. Ha HA. That was the good one; and on the not so good side, one of our favorite older kids, Andrey, was hit by a local man because he accidently splashed him. The guy actually head butted him and then socked him in the mouth. Good thing we weren't there to see that one! We just saw the results and it wasn't pretty. Things like that make you want to leave this country with all the kids you can gather up. So there is good with bad anywhere. We just pray every day for the kids safety and health. ALL of them, not just the ones that we get to bring home with us.
Vanya continues to amuse us every visit with his constant laughter and giggles. He is getting a little stubborn however and really doesn't like that "nyet" word. He gets the furrowed eyebrows and the whole nine yards and looks like his best friend has just taken away his favorite toy or something. I will have to get better at making him mind but he is just too darn cute. I know what you other moms out there are thinking; "It won't be cute in a few months", and I do realize that. It worked quite nicely to have Rob do that but it's not fair to make him be the heavy all the time. Mama will get on board somehow. Vanya continues to be very affectionate to us and recognizes strangers very well. One of the couples we had met saw him this morning and they said he looked very downtrodden and didn't even smile when they said "hi" to him. Hard for us to believe since he is such a happy little guy. I think when he saw them he was wondering where we were since we usually go in the morning with the other G-3 summitt participants. Little did he know, we were in a court room to make sure we could take him home with us.
On to the court hearing. Very long and very hot would describe it best. The same growling judge was presiding and all the representatives of each of the 3 orphanges were present as well as the inspector for the region and a couple of other people who I think were the court secretary type person and the assistants to the judge. The best part was that Yuri and Victor got to meet each other for the first time! Ok Ok so yes I cried even before the hearing started just seeing them look at each other and waiting with Yuri as he tried to look in the car when it pulled up. Victor was a little indifferent to whole thing and was probably tired of being in the car since it was about a 2 hours drive for him (probably the first time he had ridden in a car) I don't envy the ladies who brought him since he is our little wiggle worm. Yuri looked at him from a distance when he got there and I'm not quite sure what he thought. He had that puzzled look on his face and was probably wondering why I was hugging this other kid the same way I hug him. He was smiling though and I think he understood that this was the little boy we had been telling him about and showing him the picture of that looks so much like him. We got upstairs after everyone arrived and entered the court room after about a 5 minute wait and after they found a potty for Victor. Amazingly enough he sat on my lap or Robs for the entire time and even used a whisper voice when he wanted to say something. (Must have been a God thing) This is the stillest we have ever seen him. He had no toys other than a bottle of water and a hankerchief and he was perfectly content. Yuri just sat in his chair and looked content but bored. I don't blame him. The judge introduced all of the people present which took a while and then asked Igor a lot of questions which I have no idea what about. She didn't like him much so I imagined she was just being irritating. She then went on to Rob and asked about his job and position and how much he makes and why he wanted more kids when his were grown. She wanted to know whether or not the older kids resided at home or were out their own and probably some others. Then she asked me the standard name address and such and asked if we resided in the same home together (DUH!) and then did I realize that if they gave a successful judgement that I would be a mother (another DUH!). The next one got me "How do you feel about the boys?" That one I started out OK before I got out the "Well I love them" along with a few tears. Then the assistant shed a few and then the secretary shed a few and after that I'm not really sure what she asked me. Something about my faith and something about if I had a job. You'll have to ask Rob about anything else. Then each of the orphanage representatives gave their conclusions which were also pretty tear jerking after they read the diagnosis in each of their files (which were the same as the ones at the SDA) and then said how grateful they were that we were going to keep the boys together and that no Ukrainian families would have ever adopted them and they were so happy that they would have a good home. They said all kinds of nice things about us and how we treated not only our own kids but the other kids as well. Some of the ladies who we thought were very stern and didn't like us very much were actually the ones who said the nicest things. Go figure! But then again what's not to like! Ha Ha Then they called Yuri up to the judge which, I could tell was not really where he wanted to be. They asked him if he knew who we were and if he knew who the other little boy was who was there (that causes a ruckuss with the caregivers who weren't happy with that question because they knew he didn't know what that meant) and he must have answered something but we couldn't hear anything at all. He had one hand on his hip which is his nervous look and then they asked him if he just had a birthday and if we were there to celebrate with him and he nodded his head but didn't say anything else. Then as soon as she asked if he wanted to go to America there was an immediate "da!". We heard that one! Then she let him off the hook and he came back with a smile on his face like he was asking "so did I do good papa?" OK so I cried again. They didn't call Victor up since they figured if a 7 year old had a hard time that they probably wouldn't get anything out of the 5 year old. He was content to sit withPapa and try to remove his watch time after time after spilling part of his water down his leg. Then they read through all of the documents in the dossier which took a really long time they then said that they would go out and dilberate and come back with their findings. That took all of about 3 minutes and we all marched back into the room and they read that they find favorably for us to adopt all three boys (Vanya was too young to be present) and that after the 10 days they would be officially ours as long as no one comes forward to appeal in the 10 day period. Woohoo! And again after they found a potty for Victor who had drunk a whole bottle of water during the hearing we headed outside. What a site to see when the boys gave each other a hug with big smiles on their faces. It was so quick we didn't even get a picture. It was priceless though, you'll just have to trust me.
Another highlight of the last few days is that Babushka arrived! Albeit a little frazzled and tired from the long journey. Stroller in hand she got off the plane with all of her parophenalia. Since Igor got a new camera he was taking pictures of the arrival. I'll just have to get him to send them to me so I can post them. Once we got babushka home we got all the cute things she brought unpacked and oggled over. Boy they are going to be spoiled! After getting a good nights sleep during teh time we were at court we went to see Vanya since Rob had gotten to see the other boys to say goodbye for a few weeks. Well, needless to say, Babushka was a big hit with Vanya. The little fan and new books as well as the playing got lots of laughs and giggles. She even got a few hugs and kisses as well as lots of smiles. She even got to "share" his banana. Oh boy!
After all the ordeal and such of the last few days Rob finally clicked his heals and said "dom sweet dom". I know everyone was waiting for the diaperhead picture but we were not able to acquire it without offending anyone. We will just have to create one of our own when we get home. I vote that at the next orphan meeting or H4O meeting he be required to wear it. Perhaps the big screen at church would be good. What do you think Mark? Soooo Rob is on his way to Kyiv as I write this with Babushka. He will get in at 7 ish in the morning and hopefully get together with the Harris family (complete with Svetlana) and then on to the embassy to sign whatever he needs to and then on to the good 'ole USA. (Someone has to get back to earn some more money to pay this whole adventure) I'm jealous (not about the work part but about the home part) but I do get to spend some additional one on one time with boys. OK 2 on one with babushka. I guess I will have to practice being more tough on them to get them to behave. My furrowed brow just doesn't have the same affect.
Well that's it for now. Thanks for keeping up with us and praying for us. God's timing is always perfect and He must have known we needed more time with all of them to get the result we got this morning. Hip Hip Hooray! Now we just have to enjoy them and wait. I did keep the ruby slippers so I can use then just as soon as humanly possibly. OK God, now would be good time to move time along a little faster. I want to take my boys home. Thank goodness for babushka helping me to get them all on the plane. I hope there aren't any birds in the airport or we may loose Vanya before we get him on the plane. I can't wait for the boys to meet him and be together for the first time. That might even make papa cry to see the picture I get (correction: hopefully get)
Happy mama and babushka
Sorry for the long absence from the blog. Lots to do before our court date today. Visits have been going very well and all the kids are doing great. Yuri continues to get more excited as the days go by and he will really miss Rob on the next visits. He has been able to go swimming at the river with the big kids because we were there with him. In fact, the last time we went we saw some goats there as well. Must be a happenin' place to be. There are local people there as well which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes not. Yuri got to get in his first raft when one of the local people came to put it in and let him get in it first. That was great fun and he came running up the hill to where I was and spouted off a whole bunch of things that I have yet to understand. I'm thinking it went something like this," What a cool raft. Did you see that I got to get in it and everything? Papa talked to the man who owns it and got me a ride. That was great. Come see!"
But maybe he actually said,"What a cool mom you are going to be and I just love running up to talk to you even though I know you don't understand anything I say. " Ok, so let me fantasize a little along the way. Ha HA. That was the good one; and on the not so good side, one of our favorite older kids, Andrey, was hit by a local man because he accidently splashed him. The guy actually head butted him and then socked him in the mouth. Good thing we weren't there to see that one! We just saw the results and it wasn't pretty. Things like that make you want to leave this country with all the kids you can gather up. So there is good with bad anywhere. We just pray every day for the kids safety and health. ALL of them, not just the ones that we get to bring home with us.Vanya continues to amuse us every visit with his constant laughter and giggles. He is getting a little stubborn however and really doesn't like that "nyet" word. He gets the furrowed eyebrows and the whole nine yards and looks like his best friend has just taken away his favorite toy or something. I will have to get better at making him mind but he is just too darn cute. I know what you other moms out there are thinking; "It won't be cute in a few months", and I do realize that. It worked quite nicely to have Rob do that but it's not fair to make him be the heavy all the time. Mama will get on board somehow. Vanya continues to be very affectionate to us and recognizes strangers very well. One of the couples we had met saw him this morning and they said he looked very downtrodden and didn't even smile when they said "hi" to him. Hard for us to believe since he is such a happy little guy. I think when he saw them he was wondering where we were since we usually go in the morning with the other G-3 summitt participants. Little did he know, we were in a court room to make sure we could take him home with us.
On to the court hearing. Very long and very hot would describe it best. The same growling judge was presiding and all the representatives of each of the 3 orphanges were present as well as the inspector for the region and a couple of other people who I think were the court secretary type person and the assistants to the judge. The best part was that Yuri and Victor got to meet each other for the first time! Ok Ok so yes I cried even before the hearing started just seeing them look at each other and waiting with Yuri as he tried to look in the car when it pulled up. Victor was a little indifferent to whole thing and was probably tired of being in the car since it was about a 2 hours drive for him (probably the first time he had ridden in a car) I don't envy the ladies who brought him since he is our little wiggle worm. Yuri looked at him from a distance when he got there and I'm not quite sure what he thought. He had that puzzled look on his face and was probably wondering why I was hugging this other kid the same way I hug him. He was smiling though and I think he understood that this was the little boy we had been telling him about and showing him the picture of that looks so much like him. We got upstairs after everyone arrived and entered the court room after about a 5 minute wait and after they found a potty for Victor. Amazingly enough he sat on my lap or Robs for the entire time and even used a whisper voice when he wanted to say something. (Must have been a God thing) This is the stillest we have ever seen him. He had no toys other than a bottle of water and a hankerchief and he was perfectly content. Yuri just sat in his chair and looked content but bored. I don't blame him. The judge introduced all of the people present which took a while and then asked Igor a lot of questions which I have no idea what about. She didn't like him much so I imagined she was just being irritating. She then went on to Rob and asked about his job and position and how much he makes and why he wanted more kids when his were grown. She wanted to know whether or not the older kids resided at home or were out their own and probably some others. Then she asked me the standard name address and such and asked if we resided in the same home together (DUH!) and then did I realize that if they gave a successful judgement that I would be a mother (another DUH!). The next one got me "How do you feel about the boys?" That one I started out OK before I got out the "Well I love them" along with a few tears. Then the assistant shed a few and then the secretary shed a few and after that I'm not really sure what she asked me. Something about my faith and something about if I had a job. You'll have to ask Rob about anything else. Then each of the orphanage representatives gave their conclusions which were also pretty tear jerking after they read the diagnosis in each of their files (which were the same as the ones at the SDA) and then said how grateful they were that we were going to keep the boys together and that no Ukrainian families would have ever adopted them and they were so happy that they would have a good home. They said all kinds of nice things about us and how we treated not only our own kids but the other kids as well. Some of the ladies who we thought were very stern and didn't like us very much were actually the ones who said the nicest things. Go figure! But then again what's not to like! Ha Ha Then they called Yuri up to the judge which, I could tell was not really where he wanted to be. They asked him if he knew who we were and if he knew who the other little boy was who was there (that causes a ruckuss with the caregivers who weren't happy with that question because they knew he didn't know what that meant) and he must have answered something but we couldn't hear anything at all. He had one hand on his hip which is his nervous look and then they asked him if he just had a birthday and if we were there to celebrate with him and he nodded his head but didn't say anything else. Then as soon as she asked if he wanted to go to America there was an immediate "da!". We heard that one! Then she let him off the hook and he came back with a smile on his face like he was asking "so did I do good papa?" OK so I cried again. They didn't call Victor up since they figured if a 7 year old had a hard time that they probably wouldn't get anything out of the 5 year old. He was content to sit withPapa and try to remove his watch time after time after spilling part of his water down his leg. Then they read through all of the documents in the dossier which took a really long time they then said that they would go out and dilberate and come back with their findings. That took all of about 3 minutes and we all marched back into the room and they read that they find favorably for us to adopt all three boys (Vanya was too young to be present) and that after the 10 days they would be officially ours as long as no one comes forward to appeal in the 10 day period. Woohoo! And again after they found a potty for Victor who had drunk a whole bottle of water during the hearing we headed outside. What a site to see when the boys gave each other a hug with big smiles on their faces. It was so quick we didn't even get a picture. It was priceless though, you'll just have to trust me.
Another highlight of the last few days is that Babushka arrived! Albeit a little frazzled and tired from the long journey. Stroller in hand she got off the plane with all of her parophenalia. Since Igor got a new camera he was taking pictures of the arrival. I'll just have to get him to send them to me so I can post them. Once we got babushka home we got all the cute things she brought unpacked and oggled over. Boy they are going to be spoiled! After getting a good nights sleep during teh time we were at court we went to see Vanya since Rob had gotten to see the other boys to say goodbye for a few weeks. Well, needless to say, Babushka was a big hit with Vanya. The little fan and new books as well as the playing got lots of laughs and giggles. She even got a few hugs and kisses as well as lots of smiles. She even got to "share" his banana. Oh boy!
After all the ordeal and such of the last few days Rob finally clicked his heals and said "dom sweet dom". I know everyone was waiting for the diaperhead picture but we were not able to acquire it without offending anyone. We will just have to create one of our own when we get home. I vote that at the next orphan meeting or H4O meeting he be required to wear it. Perhaps the big screen at church would be good. What do you think Mark? Soooo Rob is on his way to Kyiv as I write this with Babushka. He will get in at 7 ish in the morning and hopefully get together with the Harris family (complete with Svetlana) and then on to the embassy to sign whatever he needs to and then on to the good 'ole USA. (Someone has to get back to earn some more money to pay this whole adventure) I'm jealous (not about the work part but about the home part) but I do get to spend some additional one on one time with boys. OK 2 on one with babushka. I guess I will have to practice being more tough on them to get them to behave. My furrowed brow just doesn't have the same affect.
Well that's it for now. Thanks for keeping up with us and praying for us. God's timing is always perfect and He must have known we needed more time with all of them to get the result we got this morning. Hip Hip Hooray! Now we just have to enjoy them and wait. I did keep the ruby slippers so I can use then just as soon as humanly possibly. OK God, now would be good time to move time along a little faster. I want to take my boys home. Thank goodness for babushka helping me to get them all on the plane. I hope there aren't any birds in the airport or we may loose Vanya before we get him on the plane. I can't wait for the boys to meet him and be together for the first time. That might even make papa cry to see the picture I get (correction: hopefully get)
Happy mama and babushka
5 comments:
Laura,
What a beautiful day! Congratulations. What a blessing for these boys to come back to America and have you and Rob as their parents. They have no clue to the good life in front of them. We will continue praying for Godspeed. May God's blessings continue to show His glory through your adventure. We will be praying for Andrey too.
Love Fran
Congratulations!! We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back in Virginia soon. Have a great time during the 10 day wait period. We love your blog and await your continued postings.
God Bless,
Jim & Jean
Dear Laura and Rob,
Praise the Lord! Congratulations! We are just so very happy for you and your family that the court part is over and that you were awarded those beautiful children. Please give those boys a hug from us, and welcome them into the family! So glad to see that Babushka made it safely. We'll pray for traveling mercies for Rob as he ventures home, and...whew! enjoy the waiting period in continued happiness and peace - Shalom.
God is so good!
With love,
Cousin Colleen
What a moving post! Wishing you a fast and smooth journey home with your beautiful kids!
Laura and Rob!
We are sooooo excited and happy for you both. What an incredible adventure the Lord has given you! Laura, I hope that you are able to relax and enjoy this ten days with your mom and the boys and come home rested. Are any of the boys able to stay with you?
Love 'n Him, Charlene
Post a Comment