Bustin' Her OUT!!

June 29, 2011

A day we will not soon forget.

We legally, officially became the parents of 4!!

We were picked up at 7:45 am to begin the paper chase. First to the courthouse to get our court decree. Then to pick up Vera's new birth certificate with Jon and I named as her parents. Then to the notary to sign the new birth certificate. Then to the passport office where we waited and waited and waited. For almost 2 hours. But you don't hear me complaining!! In some regions the wait for the passport is 3 - 5 DAYS...waiting for 2 hours was no big deal. It was lunch time and I was starving and starting to shake, so Viktor (Sasha's husband and our driver) took me to McDonald's to grab a bite. I told him what I wanted and he told me to sit and he would order our food. He speaks a little English, but not enough to chat over lunch. So we sat there in silence each lost in our own thoughts. We went back to the passport office and picked up Jon and Sasha. Then we headed to the bank to close out Vera's account. The government here puts a small amount of money into each orphan's account every month. We closed Vera's account and donated the money to her orphanage. They were SO appreciative of that gift. Did you know that Ukraine will be closed to international adoptions beginning next Monday? Yep. Closed. 'They' say the closure will last 3 months, but Sasha's words to us were, "I know my country. It will take much longer than 3 months." The last time SDA closed it lasted 6 months. Sasha thinks this closure will last 8 months or more. But God is in control. We must keep that in mind. Do you know what will happen during the closure? The orphanages will get more crowded. The children will suffer. Part of our adoption fees included a donation to Vera's orphanage, aside from what we gave from her bank account. 3 other children were in the process of being adopted from Vera's orphanage at the same time as Vera. That means several thousand dollars in donations. The closure means that the orphanages will lose this much needed income. For 3 months or more. While children continue to be put in the orphanages. It's crazy! Many, many people here are very worried about the SDA closure and all the implications. The children will suffer. We need to storm heaven with prayers that the closure will be short-lived.

Anyway, our last stop before heading to Vera's orphanage was to the bank to close her account. As we were walking in, Sasha told us THIS is where we would need to exercise patience. It was a government bank, versus a private one, and the employees were in no hurry to help us. We were there for over 2 hours. We waited at the bank longer than we waited anywhere else that day.

Finally, it was time to go get Vera and bust her out. I was excited and scared and nervous and emotional. We arrived at the orphanage and first gave our donation to the bookkeepers. Then we went to another office and signed a paper saying we are now responsible for Vera. Then we headed to her room. We got there right after naptime and the children were still in the bedroom (we finally got to see it and they let me take pictures...I'll just say for now, that Vera is WAY too big for the bed she was in...made me so sad to see). Vera saw us come in and instantly started crying. We figured she would. She threw her arms around Alla's neck and said in Russian, "I'm going to miss you so much!" Poor baby. She sobbed and sobbed and finally Alla took her into the bathroom to calm her down and wash her face. They returned and we dressed Vera in the clothes I brought. The children do not leave the orphanage with any clothes. We had to bring everything Vera would wear out of there. We got Vera dressed and then Alla fixed her hair.

Isn't she so pitiful?

Can you imagine how scared she must've been?

Olya (our favorite caregiver) had left at 1:00 (wish we had known that beforehand), but left her phone number and asked if we would let Vera call her to say goodbye. Vera thought that was pretty special.

Then we emptied out Vera's locker.

Sasha told Vera to go say one more goodbye to her group.

Vera walked in all smiles waving and saying, "Paka! Paka!"

One last hug for Alla.

And then we headed down the stairs...

Vera did not want to hold our hands down the stairs.

She wanted to do it herself.

Walking out the door for the very last time.

Paka, baby home 19.

Vera will never enter your gate again!

She is an orphan no more!!

Slava Bogu!!

(Praise God!!)