Our Adoption: He's with us!

As I started typing this blog, Zhenya was sitting next to me on the couch/bed playing on the iPad, which he was happy to see again. What an amazing feeling to have him with us! He has to return to the orphanage Monday morning, but we are happy that we have a long weekend to spend with him.

When we arrived at the orphanage on Wednesday, we went straight into the Director's office. We were sitting there, about to begin the meeting when Zhenya walked in with a huge smile on his face. I jumped up to hug and kiss him. Mike did the same and by this time, the Director was crying happy tears. She is an amazing Director, very loving towards the kids and pro-adoption.

In the world of adopting older kids, Wednesday was a big day. Zhenya had to write a letter stating his desire to be adopted by us. He did it with no hesitation and was very happy about it! Mike took pictures as he was writing and the Director said this is very historical! Was she right!

We spent Thursday morning getting paperwork notarized, a quick trip to City Hall and then to the orphanage! We stayed for awhile, playing with some of the other children. Then we left with Zhenya, headed back to Kyiv. (His village is about a 25 minute drive from Kyiv.)

Today (Friday) is a huge holiday for Ukraine. It's Independence Day, where Ukraine became an independent democratic state, no longer part of the former USSR. I'm sure we'll head to some of the festivities today.

So now we wait until the court date. We should find out Monday when that will be.

Mike and I feel so blessed to be here. We are in awe of how strong and mature Zhenya is with this adoption. He is happy, excited and ready to go to America to start a new life with us! We tried to tell him last night how proud we are of him for making this huge decision (not one that any kid should have to make). We are not sure he totally understood us, but know he will one day :)

We had a wonderful time of food and fellowship with 4 other adoptive families last night. It was a great time! Zhenya was able to see Dima, who is headed to SC Saturday. They are excited that they will be close to each other and can visit sometimes.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers. It is an awesome feeling knowing we have such a huge support system back home. God is good!!