We spent last night packing our suitcases as J and I plan to travel back to Ukraine. We have court scheduled for 12/13. However, we do not have any confirmation that we will actually HAVE court. The process is that once you sign the petition to adopt your child, the paperwork has to be sent BACK to Kiev to the SDA. Your paperwork has to be reviewed, AGAIN, and then an "approval" for adoption will be issued. The SDA has 10 business days to issue this approval. You can not have court without this approval....well, our court date is on the 11th day! The approval, if not issued until 12/12, has to travel ALL THE WAY to our region. Please pray that this is accomplished. It is very essential that we have court on 12/13!!!! So the basic statement is that J and I are flying to Ukraine without knowing whether or not we will actually have court on Friday or not. We have been praying that we will. God knows the critical timing issues we are experiencing. However, whatever happens, it is not a surprise to Him and He knows what is best for us and E.
Now to back track. Our plan was that J and I would fly back to Ukraine for court and then leave right after. After the court hearing, there is a 10 day appeal period before the court will actually issue the final judgment granting the adoption. During this 10 days, nothing can be accomplished regarding the adoption process. So, it was our plan that we would both fly back so we could both work and then after the 10 days, I would fly back (by myself) to take E from the orphanage and start the paper chase of getting the Judgment Decree, so we could get a new birth certificate for E, so we could apply for a passport for E, so would could get her medical exam, so we could get a visa for E, so we can come home!!! phewwww.
But, it has been on J's heart for quite sometime that he does not want me to come home during those 10 days. We spoke to our facilitator who told us, quite frankly (and honestly), that he thinks one of us needs to stay during the 10 days. He stated that it is a very emotional time for the child, especially if they are alone. It is not like the child has the mentality of "See ya suckers, I'm outta here." It can be very emotional for them. E will be leaving the home she has known for half her life. The other kids and orphanage teachers have been her family. She is leaving them on the faith alone, trusting what we have told her of the life she will have with our family in America. After court she knows this is really happening and she can count the days she has left with her friends. Our facilitator's comment "Use your common sense." So with all that information, I approached my colleagues and they were on board with continuing to cover for me. Praise The Lord, they have been so kind to me. I can't even express my thankfulness to them. Sooooo, now I am staying. Which means that I have spent the last week catching up in my office and working my tail off to get ahead and prepare as much as I could for my colleagues. AND, I had originally only planned to be gone about 6 days, and packing for 6 days.......um now I had to run around to get everything that I thought I would have time to get when I came back. (Um......like Christmas presents, lol) I also have to prepare, mentally, to be away from my family, at home, during Christmas.
So, we are packed. We are ready to go! We called E and it was so sweet to hear her voice. We have spent this time at home playing and just being with our girls. Its been fun showing F pictures and videos of E. She's so excited to hug her new sister.
Below are pictures of one of our duffle bags we used on our first trip. Now you have to know that this bag was brand new when we left for Ukraine the first time. I appreciate the tip we received to pack duck tape. It definitely came in handy, lol!!!!
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