Day in Court

Sorry to post so late tonight, I was hoping to get an e-mail update from Tonya and Joe but they have had a very long day so that will have to wait until tomorrow. I did speak with them on the phone this afternoon so here is a brief summary.

The great news is that they did get their court appointment (thanks for the prayers) and everything was signed, approved, etc....so now the 10 day wait begins. They also had a very good conversation with the director at the orphanage. Tonya said she was the nicest and chattiest that she has been yet. I am not sure if they got to see the boys today but did say they had a nice visit with Oksana. Mom's plane left on time today so she is well on her way and should arrive in the Ukraine tomorrow at 5 their time.

Now for what is becoming the typical Ukranian twist (I am going to give the short version and hopefully Tonya and Joe can fill in the gaps): they were in court at 1 p.m. and the appointment lasted for over 3 hours then they had to go and wait for the director at the orphanage for over 45 minutes because they needed her signature. The entire time they were planning on returning to Kiev so that Joe could catch his flight out tomorrow. After they left the director they were informed that the reservation they had requested for an apartment in Kiev had never been made. Ramon called this afternoon but there is a conference in Kiev and as a result there are no apartments or hotels in the entire city. So, Tonya and Joe had to spend an extra night in Radamashel, and they are leaving at 6a.m. headed back to Kiev so that Joe can catch his plane. Tonya is going to hang around the airport until Mom lands at 5 and then they are headed back to Radamashel until at least Tuesday. Mom is very excited to see the kids so I am sure that will help her overcome her jetlag.

The 10 day wait has now started and that includes weekends. However, Tonya and Joe's 10 days will end on a Saturday which pushes it to Monday. That happens to be Easter weekend in the Ukraine so Monday is a holiday, so that pushes it until Tuesday. Ramon said that sometimes they take the entire week off for the holiday but he is not sure if that is the case this year or not. He will try to find out tomorrow but that decision can change daily so there is really no way to be sure if they will work that week or not. If they don't, that turns the 10 day wait into 19 days. The kicker is that this time has to pass before they can start the paperwork for passports, birth certificates, etc...

Today's prayer request is for safe flights for Mom and Joe and that whoever is in charge of the paperwork will decide to come to work on the Tuesday after Easter so they can move on with the next step of this process.

Thanks,
Rachel