Court & Hanging Out Just the 2 of Us

It's 8:00 in the morning here in Kiev. It will be hours before Daniel wakes up! But I'm enjoying sitting here at the computer watching him sleep. It amazes me that no matter how old they get, they still look like babies when they sleep.

We had out court appearance last Monday. It was nothing at all like I'd expected. I had a small panic attack right before we went in. Not ANY reservations, just the fear of the unknown. They have our dossier, basically our whole life story in a folder, and can ask any question about it. It's hard to feel prepared when you don't know what they'll be asking. I just said a little prayer that God would give me the words to say to whatever question was asked. Mine and Bill's questioning seemed like a blur to me, but when Daniel stood to be questioned, I was awed. Here is this 15 year old boy, who spoke with such self-assurance with every question asked him. He had tears come to his eyes, but he never lost his composure as he told the judge he wants to be adopted by us because we love him like a "real" family is supposed to and that "no" he didn't want to stay here to be near his brothers because he would probably end up like they have. Before we knew it, the whole thing was over. The judge made his decision right then, there was no deliberation. This adoption is approved pending a 10-day waiting period! Wow! We have a son!

                 1st Official Family Photo

I think we're the only family I know that didn't get a photo in the court room. We didn't get the cool court room with the holding cell in it. It was just a small, plain room with a place for the judge to sit up front, the jury & prosecutor in the center, and 2 rows of seats for us in the back. Everything was over so fast and the judge was up and out before we knew it! We took this photo downstairs in the court house, so we could have the Ukraine flag in the background.

                                     
                                        Daniel's birth mother came to court that morning.
                                        We were a little concerned when we 1st heard
                                        she was coming, but she just wanted to get a
                                        look at the family adopting her son. We got the
                                        thumbs up. She told him we are a good family.

 Handsome boy! He didn't sleep the whole night before court.









On the Tuesday after court, Bill and the girls flew home. He had to get back to work and the girls needed to get back to school. It's just been me and Daniel for just over a week now. We are doing good, finding our way around the city. It's some really good mother/son bonding time. I've watched so many movies that I would not normally watch! Some Kung Fu movie made in Thailand & translated into Ukrainian (neither language I speak!); a King Kong movie where he gets an artificial heart transplant, they capture a female "Queen" Kong , they fall in love, & eventually escape together; and a lot of action movies-all in Ukrainian. It's been fun though, just hanging out together.

Trolley that takes you up the big hill from the new parts of Kiev to Podol, the old town.

           This is the view from the park in old town.

       
            Kiev Zoo Park

   We asked this peacock to please show us his
             beautiful feathers and he did it!

         We had been joking all day that I was taking him to visit
          his brothers and sisters at the zoo!

              This wasn't running that day, so we didn't get to ride.









So, today is Wednesday. We are going out to find some other cool parks to look at. There are parks everywhere here! Friday we will return to Baryshevka to get final papers from court, then go and apply for Daniel's new birth certificate. Once we have the birth certificate, we can apply for his new passport and Visa. Hoping to be traveling home in the next week & a half! I am going to miss this place, but I can't wait to be home and have our whole family together!

Delays, The Holocaust, & "I love you, Mama"

Got some disappointing news Monday. Our facilitator called to say he was coming over Monday afternoon. We thought it was to go over what we needed to do for court Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was to tell us that when he'd gone to pick up our final paperwork at the SDA for court, it wasn't ready. This meant no court Tuesday. The SDA now falls under the Ministry of Family and Children, a new ministry formed at the beginning of this year. Instead of all adoption related paperwork staying in one department, the SDA, it now has to go through the ministry's office as well. Our paperwork has to pass through five people, with each of them signing off. We were missing one signature. Our facilitator was able to pick up our paperwork Wednesday and now court is scheduled for Monday, April 8th @ 11:00.

We are glad that we finally have all the paperwork and know that court will definitely be on Monday, but this puts a major strain on our budget. This means a whole other week Bill will be out of work, another week paying for an apartment big enough for all five of us, and meals for five people for another week. The good thing though is we are getting more time to explore the city and visit old friends. There are so many parks and attractions you can see for free here. We have plenty to do to fill our time. With all the snow we've had, it hasn't been favorable for seeing the sites.

This week we've gone to a huge park overlooking the Dnieper River. There are beautiful views of the city from there and interesting sites to see. The Parliament Building is there. It was the Russian Tzar's Palace when Russia's capital was Kiev. It was all covered in tarps and scaffolding for restoration, so we weren't able to get any good photos of it.

                            

             Children's Puppet Theater

                                                             


                            

                                Daniel and his sisters

         

       Big Frog in the Park

      

                  Kiev Dynamo Soccer Stadium

                                                 

        View of Kiev

                                       

                                                           Freedom Arch

Tradition here for engaged couples to put  locks on the railing.








The next day we went to Babyn Yar. It is a large ravine in Kiev where the largest 2-day massacre of Jews during the Holocaust took place in September 1941. 33,771 Jews were murdered and thrown into the ravines on September 29 & 30, 1941. Between 100-150,000 Jews, Ukrainian citizens, and gypsies were killed here between 1941-1945. It is very sad what the human race is capable of.

                         
 
                          Walking up to the main monument.

This photo doesn't begin to show how large this monument is.









Over the last couple of days, it has been obvious that there has been something on Daniel's mind. He has quit taking calls from one of his brothers. We had noticed him hitting ignore every time he would call. I was finally able to get him to talk about it last night. It was not at all what I had imagined in my head and after we talked he seemed to feel much better. I told him (through Google Translate, of course), that he doesn't have to go through things alone anymore. That's what we're here for, to support him through any problems. I told him we love him very much and he will never have to go through things alone again. When he finished reading my message, he looked at me and said, "I love you, Mama." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him that I love him too. Then I had to leave the room so I wouldn't burst into tears in front of him. It was an awesome moment that I will never forget.