Day 17 – Approved for Court!

Another cloudy day dawned, it’s about 35 F or so and you can feel that spring has sprung. By the time I get back here to pick V up, there might be green grass. Something to look forward to! 

We headed out for our usual 10:00 a.m. visit with V. He was happy as usual to see his new mom and dad. No real news there! We had a huge hit with today’s present. We brought him a rubber ball about the size of a soccer ball that has what I can only describe as rubber hair all over it.

Alex had something similar when V was here last summer and he just loved it. As I was cruising the isles of Target looking for things for us to do while we were here, it caught my eye. I just knew that it was something I would have to find room for in the suitcase. Robert couldn’t believe I was really going to pack that thing and haul it all the way over here. But I was! And I did! And based on the smiles I saw this morning, I am very glad I did! 

Just as we were getting ready for our afternoon visit with V, the local cell phone we purchased rang. It was the head coordinator. He told us that our request to adopt V had been approved in Kiev and the paperwork we were waiting for that approves our request for a court hearing was in hand. We will go to court tomorrow afternoon as scheduled! Great news! I quickly wrote a little note for V using the translator to go back and forth between Russian and ‘American’ to ensure it was translating correctly. I told him what was happening, that mom and dad would be leaving for America tomorrow and that Alex and I would be back for him after the 10 day appeals period is over. I told him what day to expect us.

When we got to the orphanage, I had him read what I had translated. He was very excited; he kept saying “V very happy!” and hugged us many times. We told him that mom and dad were also very happy. We asked if he had any questions about what was going to happen and he said “No, V very happy!”. Hugs all around. We tried to play a couple of games of Go Fish and Uno but to be honest, he was pretty squirmy after we told him the good news. All too soon it was time for mom and dad to go. Today he got an apple, an orange, the last juice box and the last little sucker. He was thrilled. We have to get another Power of Attorney at the notary tomorrow so I don’t know if we will be able to see him tomorrow until after court. I thought I best get the rest of the goodies to him as soon as I could. Note to families coming behind us, if only one of you is coming for the second trip, David will send you a Power of Attorney for the spouse staying home. It needs to be apostilled. I thought David said it was not needed until the second trip so I did not bring it with us this trip. It needs to be translated so they need it on the first trip to prepare for the second trip. Bring it with you!! No big deal if you don’t, just an additional trip to the Notary and a few $ to have one drafted here. But again, my advice is to bring it with you on the first trip. 

In between visits with V, it was nice enough that we could take a walk. We walked up the street several blocks to the old square. There is a very nice park area in the center of the square; it has a lovely water fountain in the middle. It obviously does not have water in it now though.

The large white building in the background is the Donetsk regional Russian Drama Theatre. Here is what it looks like from the other side.

The square is actually a circle, go figure. And has some really neat buildings around it. There are 2 of these buildings with the spikes, slightly different on the top. And different colors as you can see.

I liked this building.

Robert liked the bus. “Check out THAT ride!” were his exact words.

Here is the view from the square back down our street.

I have mentioned going to the super market a few times but forgot to post the picture; it is located near the orphanage. About a 6-7 minute drive from the flat.

So, the plan is court tomorrow afternoon, head back to Kiev on the overnight train and then depart on our early morning flight on Thursday. With the time changes, we should arrive in Minneapolis/St. Paul just after noon on Thursday. Pray that all goes well and we have an uneventful journey home! 

Poka! (See you later)