Court and Babushka's Birthday Party

To start off, I am awnry because Jen refuses to type about today and wants me to do it. The day started very early as Mike and Lori were being picked up at 6:30 to go to the train station. Oleg arrived at 5:30 and was surprised that everyone was still in bed. I being a light sleeper am the only one that heard the knock at the door. He quickly realized he was an hour early and said he would be back.

We were picked up at 8:30 to go to the orphanage and drop off the girls dresses and then head to the courthouse. Oleg dropped us off and then returned to the orphanage to pick up Nadiya, Masha, Nastia, and the social worker. Our appointment was at 9:30 but we did not see the judge until 10:15. She was very official with everything. She asked Jen how old she was. When Jen replied 30, turning 31 in a few weeks, the judge replied that she looked like a teenager. She later told Masha that when she and her new mom are walking down the street, people will think they are sisters. She talked to the girls a lot about both going to America and being a part of our family and the challenge that will be. She then finally acknowledged that only Nastia would be adopted at this time and Masha would have to wait.

The judge asked us about our biological children. We told her about our 3 boys. She asked why we were adopting? I told her Jen has 4 younger brothers and wants a daughter. She told me that girls can be difficult to raise and asked me if I understood that they are very expensive. I indicated that I have 5 sisters and understood very well what I was getting in to. When Nadiya was given her chance to speak, she spoke highly of us and our home in Utah and the relationship that the girls and the boys had with each other last October when we were hosting. She even told how good I was to come home and begin to help out with the kids and dinner. The judge said that was good and then said something about men that come home and sit on the couch and read the newspaper and don't help out at all.

Jen will regreat asking me to do this. I am putting too much detail in this post.

Anyways, the judge approved the adoption after spending quite a bit of time talking to both Nastia and Masha. Nastia mostly just smiled and answer with Da and Nyet. She had a prepared speach but only remembered "I want to go to america to have a momma and a pappa".

After court Jen and I went to lunch with Oleg, Oxana and Elena. We then spent a few hours running around doing paperwork. Oxana is working hard to get things in line for when Jen returns after the ten day waiting period.

We then took the electric tram with Masha and Nastia to their Babushka's house. Today is her 77th birthday and we wanted to give her a gift and see her one more time before we left. Also the girls were going home to be with her for the weekend. She was very happy to see us again and greeted us with more hugs and kisses. Without Elena, Masha was the only source we had for translation. She has really come a long way since she was at our house last October and did a fantastic job in helping us communicate with her family that were there. Her uncle and aunt were thene and helped prepare a big meal. They prepared enough food for twice as many people as were there. The girls Babushka is very animated and has quite the personality. This makes it more fun for me to tease and joke around with her. She too had no reservations about giving me a hard time. At one point I pretended I was going to jump in some water bins they had filled up in the backyard. As I was walking back to the patio area, Babuska walked to the water bins with her cup and dipped it like she was going to get a drink of water. The water was kind of dirty and I thought she was crazy to drink it. I turned around and was watching Jen and the girls. Babushka tapped me on the shoulder and when I turned around she sprayed (spit) a mouthful of water directly in my face and began laughing hysterically. I am just thankful I had my sunglasses on to shield my eyes. Jen and the others were laughing as well. She then began to spray Masha and her aunt as well. Jen wanted to get it on video so she asked her to do it again but thankfully for me she was out of water.

We finally sat down to eat the dinner. Right from the beginning, Babushka and Masha's aunt began to fill our plates up with food. Every time we would finish our potatoes or salad or cucumbers, they would get more and add it to our plate. We kept saying we were getting full but they did not stop. I told Jen I was about to put food on Babushka's plate who did not eat much food at all. The potatoes were very good and I as I began to dish up one more serving, Babushka grabbed a spoon and started helping me out. I immediatley took my next spoon full and put it on her plate. She hollered and laughed. I did not stop there though. I next grabbed some meat, cucumbers, and salad and filled her plate up. Everyone was laughing while Babushka held her hands up saying "Stop! Stop! No more!' At least that's what I think she said. Masha was laughing too much to translate. I think Masha's Aunt and Uncle were happy that someone finally stood up to Babushka and gave her some of her own medicine. She and I have really hit it off and are good buddies now. I hope it helps her to feel good about losing her two little girls that she loves and cares about so much. She joked around a few times about us adopting her too to take to america.

I think I have overdone myself. I will let Jen add her two cents and some pictures of the events.

Signing off, Drew.

Jen here. I will add just a couple of things. I'm tired and have done all of the recording so far and wanted Drew to do just this one for me. I thought that was fair and I appreciated his efforts while I spent the time repacking for Crimea tomorrow morning.

Court went really well. The judge did make the conclusion that we can be a happy family together and now our ten-day waiting period begins. I was teary eyed before we got into the court room as I listened to Nadiya quizzing Nastia on what to say when the judge asks her if she wants to go to America and why? She replied, "Because I want a mama and papa and I really liked being in America." I got more teary eyed with this than I did in the courtroom because Nastia just stood and smiled the whole hearing. She was too cute to bawl over! :) I held it together pretty well. I was proud of myself.

Here are pictures from the past two-to-three days.

Eating at the cafe above the Billa grocery store with the Loboses and Lawrence's.

Nastia and Masha with their very chique orphanage attorney, Anya. She is one of their favorite people.


Jen, Oxana, and Lena waiting for court to begin.

Masha, Jen and Nastia before court.

Left to right: the prosecuter, judge assistant, Masha, Nastia, Jen, the judge, Drew, second judge assistant, Nadiya, and the social worker--after the hearing.

A very interesting burrito from the "Mexican" restaurant in Dnipro. It had carrots and a really spicy, herbal sauce. Not a mexican salsa sauce, but a strange Ukrainian take on a "mexican" sauce...

Drew and Jen on our way to Babooshka's.

The girls' uncle, Drew and Babooshka before eating. Their uncle BBQ'd chicken and fish over an open flame for the meal.

The meal prepared for Babooshka's birthday. The round pieces of food at the bottom of the picture are fried slices of cucumber with mayo on the top. I think they were also BBQ'd.

Drew dancing with Babooshka before we leave.

The girls left us at the tram stop and I haven't ever had so many hugs and kisses. None of us cried at the parting which I was relieved for. Masha is being very strong. She can't wait to visit in October and really looks forward to March. She kept saying this over and over. Nastia, I think, is still too young to understand what is happening all around her. She knows that she is coming to America, but if it is tomorrow or in a year, she doesn't know the difference. Then as for me, I know this is going to be a lot of work, and although I love these girls already, I am looking forward to a couple of days to myself before I have to take on this challenge of teaching a 7-year old English. She is really trying, but it has been rough this week trying to keep her attention for more than 15-20 minutes and she still only knows the letters up to H. Her numbers she still struggles with 7, 8, 9, and 10. She can only tell me what the number is in English if she counts on her fingers. We have our work cut out for us! So for now, we are on our way to Crimea to visit Oxana (the translator that stayed with us during the hosting program last year). We will head back to Kiev on Thursday night and sign papers in Kiev on Friday. Then next Saturday we are on our way back home! I can't wait to see my boys...I miss them so much!!! I love you boys!