Finally!

Natasha, our caseworker, came in this morning. When she saw me she gave me a big hug saying, “This is it! We are going to the court!” Praise God! Kim and I later prayed together to thank God for this long awaited moment, and to intercede for another two couples who are going through what we had gone through three weeks. Both wives cried after the first appointment with SDA, so did I. We could totally identify with their helpless feelings and disappointment.

The court process went smoothly. It was sweet not only because the judge granted us parental rights, but also the judge looked at me and said, “You are beautiful!” No, the judge was not a man, but a lady. I curtsied and thanked her.

After lunch we went to the notary to get more paper work done and will see the boys two hours from now. Sasha’s full name is Alexander Carroll Mitchell (Sasha is a common nickname for Alexander). Oleg’s is Oleg David Mitchell. We will get a pizza for them (they never had pizza before!) to celebrate. We are now officially their mom and dad, so they will address us “mama and papa.” I made two photo albums for them to ease the “hardship” of waiting to come home. There are still tons of paper work needed to be done before they can board the plane to come to the US.

We will board the overnight train back to Kiev tonight and literally hit the ground running to do more paper work at the US Embassy. Kim will fly back to the US on Saturday noon, and I, the same day in the afternoon. We couldn’t get on the same flight.

Thank you all for your faithfulness in praying for us in this adoption. Let’s continue this prayer journey for our adoption is not final until Sasha and Oleg come home.