What an Anniversary!

I posted one blog earlier today, but mostly told about what happened yesterday. We went to church tonight (all in Russian, but very lively!). It's after dinner now (we had Verengy again, and cabbage and radish and dill slaw. Yum!), so I'm writing once more to tell about the wonderful events of today!

Today is our 31st wedding anniversary, and God blessed it! We had to be up and ready to go by 8:00 in order to get to the orphanage by 8:15 to meet with the director. Zhanna and Ella were with us as we arrived this morning. Their hair was in braids with big bows and they both had on red sweaters and blue skirts. They hugged us and held on to us as we walked inside. As the other children walked by the girls held on to us very possessively.

The other kids from camp came and gave us hugs, too, which was sweet and special. I'm feeling guilt toward the other kids. So many of them touched our hearts last summer - Alona, Yana, Sergai and Slavik, Anya, etc., etc., etc. I wish we could take them all home, but it's not possible. I'm so happy that Zhanna and Ella will be our girls, but I will always pray for the others.

After our initial greeting we went to the Director's office. She is an attractive woman, but we understand that she can be moody. She seemed pleasant enough this morning, however. She talked to Tanya and Arkadi and then asked us some questions, such as how much money we make, how we met the girls, information about Nathan and Annie and where they were living and what they were doing. Then she brought the girls in and had them sit and asked them questions about how we met and if they wanted to go with us to America. The girls both said, "Yes," enthusiastically. The director asked if anything was wrong with the orphanage. The girls said no, but they still wanted to go with us. I was proud of their wise answers and the poise they displayed in the process. Then the orphanage doctor came in and gave us a brief medical history of the girls. She asked if we still wanted them or wanted time to think it over. We said of course we still wanted them! (There are no problems, but even if there were, we've already decided they are ours!)

After this "grilling" Tanya and the girls and Mark and I were escorted upstairs so we could visit in another room while Arkadi and the Director's secretary finished the paperwork. When it was time to go we were asked to sign a paper stating that we want to adopt Zhanna and Ella. It felt so good to do that on our anniversary! What a gift!

We had to say good-bye to the girls then, but promised to see them later in the day. It was about 11:30 by that time, and Mark and I and Tanya were on a mission! We had to go to a small village/town in a distant part of the Donetsk region where Zhanna and Ella had been born. We had to retrieve a document saying that all the other adoptable siblings had already been adopted.

So, we set out on this journey on totally unknown roads through farming community after farming community. It was an absolutely beautiful day! The sun was shining and it was warm. The purple lilacs and red tulips and purple and white irises and chestnut trees are all in full bloom all at once here and grew lavishly all along the journey. There were milk cows and goats tied up beside the roads through every village we drove through. I guess the new spring grass needs to be eaten! There were old men sitting in the yard, while old women were working in the garden. We saw baby geese and even a man on a bicyle, steering with one hand and holding a bird cage containing a live parakeet in the other! Ah, Spring in Ukraine!

We saw Ukraine today in a totally different way. Up to now we had been mostly in the cities, but the country is beautiful - so green and lush, with field after field of fertile soil, plowed and waiting,or already bursting with the promise of a new crop. We could see clearly why Ukraine is called "The Breadbasket of Europe." Many crops are grown here such as wheat and potatoes and sunflowers for oil. The old Ukrainian ramshackle houses have a beauty all their own. Some were painted old world style with bright colors surrounding the windows and doors while the rest of the house is drab brown or grey. What tranquility! What a pastoral scene!

Until we hit a pothole - which was every 3 - 5 seconds, unless you were an expert swerver - which, thankfully, most of the time, Tanya was. She also expertly dodged the dogs, chickens and other farm animals that could have easily become roadkill under our tires. Also, there was the small issue of no signs on the road to tell you where you are going, and no highway numbers. Then, in driving through small villages, often the road would fork or split suddenly, and you had to guess as to which small, unlined fork was the main highway, and which was just the cow path through the town. We kept praying for God to give us a "sign!" We've decided that we think the Ukrainian government should put more money into its Transportation Department. Da!

Miraculously, after 2 hours, we arrived (in one piece - mind, body and soul!) in the larger village which is home to the district records office. This town was like taking a step back in time into an old Soviet village. There were buildings that are now vacant that had obviously once been Soviet offices. In order to get to the correct building we had to walk through an old park and around some old apartments. The office building we were looking for was entered through a heavy steel door and over a cracked and broken cement floor. We entered the actual office through an initial steel door off the hallway and then opened another wooden door within a square cubical area. There were about 5 women working inside within 2 extremely small rooms. I don't know how they kept from stepping on each other all the time! But they were very friendly. It didn't take long to get the document and they congratulated us and we left.

We then found a small market in the village to purchase some lunch. The lady shopkeeper didn't use a cash register. Instead, she had a large, old abacus attached to the counter, which she methodically used to keep track of our purchases. She seemed amused that we couldn't understand how much everything cost. We bought a hunk of Swiss cheese and a hunk of Muenster cheese, some bread, some chocolate and some juice. A great Ukrainian lunch! We ate in the car on the bumpy and swervy and picturesque 2 hour drive back to Mariupol!

We got to see the girls for just a few minutes when we returned. It was too late for us to spend much time with them, but tomorrow afternoon, Tanya has promised that we'll get to go with her to an English lesson with Zhanna and Ella.

Tomorrow we will be up and out the door at 8:00 again. We must take all our paperwork to the judge tomorrow morning. We have no idea how this will go. We must present our case and then in a day or two we will be given a court date. This could be as much as two weeks from now. Once we go to court everything is put on hold for 10 days. At that time, if no one has come forward to protest, the adoption is finalized here, and we get new birth certificates and new passports for the girls. (They can get passports in one day here for adoptions! Wow!) We do all that here in Mariupol. Once those things are all done we pack up the girls and take the train back to Kiev. We'll stay another few days in Kiev as we have to have medical tests on the girls there and register them with the American Embassy. Then we get to come home!

We're really not sure about how long all this will take at this point. But we've been told we have a good chance to be able to come home before July 1, maybe even as early as June 20, if all goes well. We'll pray.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying. God is good and He provides. Happy Ukrainian Anniversary to us!
Love,
Dawn and Mark