Day 15, 16 and 17

"The most consequential of life's episodes often begin with the simplest of events."

Finally, we are able to make contact. Soooo, it's official we are now a family of SIX. The judge "found in favor" of us adopting Bogdan and Ruslan. Wahoo! In fact, I even yelled, "wahoo" when he gave us his final decision, okay maybe I didn't yell it, but I did say it loud enough for everyone in the courtroom to hear. Wahoo!! This adoption has been no different then our other two, full of miracles at every turn.

Facilitator Oksana finally arrived late Sunday night, whew. When we awoke Monday morning she sat down with us an prepared us for what was to happen during the court proceedings. I have to admit we were a bit nervous and overwhelmed , but as we entered the court room and the judge began to talk, we calmed down...a bit. He started off by asking a series of questions...why we would adopt these boys? Why Ukriane? Where we live? Occupation? Are we criminals? Where will they attend school?...you get the idea. After he asked us questions, he would then turn to the 2 women on his left and right, ask them if they had any questions for us and then they would ask away. Then he would turn to the SDA representative, the orphanage lawyer and the orphanage representative to see if they had any questions. This continued on for at least a good hour or so. Then he read some documents and it went something like this...sidjfiosjfoia disojf disofsodi difihsoeihvid eubsdin goos David Michael Mooooooore and Danielle Tate Mooooooore adfdksjh adifksdjklksdlkfjeien David Michael Mooooooore and Danielle Tate Mooooooore and so on and so on. Oksana didn't even translate this part for us. Then the prosecutor asked us a series of questions and THEN they brought in the boys. The judge asked Ruslan, "why would you want to go to America, aren't you going to miss your friends?" "You will miss them when you are gone, will you not?" To him he replied, " yes, I will miss them, but I have a picture of them in my head, but I want to be with mommy and poppy." Then the judge proceeded to ask Bogdan questions. One of his questions was, "what are you interested in, do you like sports?" Bogdan said, "no, I prefer to read Christian books". The judge really took to Bogdan. After ALL the questions the judge dismissed us while he and the 2 other women, who we were told were the jury, deliberated for a good 20 minutes or so. We were then invited back into the courtroom. The judge stood up, addressed us and found in favor of our adoption. At that moment everyone in the courtroom clapped and then we all hugged. Unfortunately, we were not able to get our ten days waved, so it looks like I'll be here up until about the 12th of November. Ahhhhh!!! In fact, David just left a few minutes ago to take the midnight train back to Kyiv, it's about 11:30 pm here and I am already talking to myself. I don't know how I'm going to make it through this week, my imagination is already getting the best of me and I don't think I'll sleep a whole lot tonight. Wish me luck. The boys will be with me next week sometime, so it'll be nice to have them here. After court we went out to dinner with just about everyone present in the courtroom, I think everyone was there, but the judge and the court reporter, I believe we spent half our budget just on that one dinner, but oh was it worth it. It was a WONDERFUL day.

The last couple of days were spent with the boys, they were David's last two visits and he introduced them to American baseball. It was difficult in the beginning for them to grasp which hand to put the glove on, EVERYONE of them first put it on their right. After a few tosses they finally got it. After just a few short minutes the playground was filled with boys wanting to play catch with David. We were having just the greatest time playing ball with ALL the boys until you know who showed up, the evil candy burning nurse. Man, I can't figure her out, she needs to relax a bit, but I don't dare tell her that and even if I did dare, she wouldn't understand anyway. She ran out to where we were playing and started grabbing boys by their hoodies and some by the hair on the back of their heads and hauled them back in. A couple of boys did escape her grasp, but we encouraged them to listen and get back inside. Sometimes I wish I did have a piece of poisonous candy saved JUST for her, oh no I didn't just type that did I? Today when we went back to the sanatorium she did let a couple of the boys come out and play baseball, so she did redeem herself, just a bit, in my eyes. I just smile when I see her, my goal is to get a smile in return before I leave...I'll keep you posted.
David teases me each day we leave the apartment, because you see I leave with my coat pockets full of candy in one and hot dogs in the other. No they are not for me. The candy is for the kids and the hot dogs are for the dogs. Okay, I wasn't going to bring up the dog "situation" here, but I just can't ignore it anymore. I know their plight pales in comparison to everything else, but I am going to have a nervous breakdown if I see one more dog lying dead on the side of the road. I hear them crying at night outside in the cold and it is sending me over the edge. Between the kids and the dogs I am going to lose it. There, I said what I had to say and I will not bring them up again, at least until maybe my next update.
I do have to mention one final thing. When we went to visit the boys on Tuesday, the day after court, there was something different about the them, David and I both noticed right off. They were happy. During our visit, they were more relaxed around us, they reached out to us more. When we said goodbye at the fence Ruslan hugged us for the FIRST time and told us he loved us. I wonder if they were just waiting for it to ALL be final, before they would express their true feelings...I don't know.
We love you all, thanks for your words of love and encouragement. Your comments mean so much to us. Stay in contact with ME people, I am already lonely.
Kisses!!!





After our court. The judge is standing just to my right, he was dressed so casual, it somewhat surprised us.

At the notaries office just before we headed to court. I love this lady, she has been so kind to us.

The court building and the orphanage lawyer standing in front. I love her, she has been amazing with us and so kind to the boys.

At the celebration dinner, The boys ordered ravioli with sour cream. Not my favorite meal. But oh,do they love it.

I took this picture just as we were leaving. Notice all the lights, not a single one was on and we sat in the cold.

Some of the older boys playing baseball with David.

Ruslan playing catch with his buddy.

This is truly the GREATEST yogurt on the face of this earth. My goal is to eat so much of it before I go home, so that when I do, I will be so sick of it I will never want to eat it again. It is to die for. The peach is the BEST!!!